Hoy was last off in a nerve-racking finale but, in typical style, led through every check-point to add the 2006 world title to those won in 2002 and 2004. His title came at the expense of Ben Kersten, of Australia, the Commonwealth Games champion. It was a fine way for Hoy to sign off at the discipline. He said last night that he would not ride in it again.

Yesterday, in the men’s four- kilometre individual pursuit, Paul Manning, of Britain, easily overpowered Fabien Sanchez, of France, to secure the bronze medal.

Manning is now established as a mainstay of Britain’s pursuiting élite and was crowned individual pursuit champion at the Commonwealth Games, yet he maintains that it is this afternoon’s team pursuit that motivates him most.

“In my mind the team pursuit is the main event,” Manning said. “It’s a different sensation when there are four guys who have trained and worked together. To get four guys riding brilliantly on one day makes it easy, but that’s not always the case. So it is about the right balance. It is a big challenge.”

Hoy, memorably winner of the kilometre time-trial on the opening night of competition at the Athens Olympics two years ago, will not be able to defend his Olympic title in Beijing after the event was controversially dropped from their schedule by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

According to the president of the International Cycling Union (ICU), Pat McQuaid, the loss of the kilometre time-trial was as much attributable to the domination of the Great Britain team in the event, as the IOC’s desire to shoehorn BMX racing, seen as a younger, more commercially appealing event, into the Olympic roster.

“A decision was taken to put BMX in,” McQuaid said. “In order to do that we were told that we had to drop two disciplines.

“We surveyed 28 nations that were involved in track cycling in Athens and asked them their opinion. All of the pressure to reintroduce the kilo since the decision was taken has come from Great Britain or Australia, because they have vested interests. It had come down to a specialised area among a couple of nations. It doesn’t really go along with the Olympic ideal.”

Despite that assertion, 18 nations competed in last night’s kilo final and Britain remain frustrated by the loss of an event in which they claimed gold medals at both the Sydney and Athens Olympics, through Jason Queally and Hoy.

Team pursuiting, however, is far too popular to go the same way. Dominant in this skilled and spectacular discipline, Great Britain and Australia are expected to lock horns for gold again this afternoon, with another showdown at the Beijing Olympics at the back of their minds.

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