They had come to pay homage to Chris Hoy and his Olympians and ended up cheering themselves hoarse for three slight women who scorched the track of the Manchester Velodrome.

Wendy Houvenaghel, Lizzie Armitstead and Jo Rowsell will be holding their breath next month when the International Olympic Committee meets to decide which events will be on the roster for London. If the women’s team pursuit makes it on to the schedule, place your bets now.

In a matter of months, Houvenaghel, Armitstead and Rowsell have become not only a winning combination but also a team of recordbreakers. Last night’s World Cup Classics gold is added to the World Championship victory in the team pursuit in March in Poland.

But this victory had a special aura as they knocked 0.6sec off the record set at the 2008 World Championships on this track, when Rebecca Romero was in the team instead of Armitstead. The injection of Armitstead — who also lifted gold here in the women’s points race — has taken the team to a new level. And they reckon they can get even better than the time of 3min 21.875sec they set here.

“We think 3min 12sec is attainable by 2012,” Armitstead said, almost casually. “We know we have been in great form and we could feel that we had a great time in us.”

Houvenaghel said: “It is great for the women’s team that the focus is on them just as much as on the men. We have had some great performances and this was one of them.”

While the team pursuit trio thrived under the lights of the Velodrome, Victoria Pendleton wilted. Britain’s queen of the track, a gold medalwinner in Beijing, was going for three titles at this event, but it proved beyond her. Victory in her best event, the sprint, on Friday night was narrow and her silver in the 500 metres was followed by a disappointing fifth in the women’s keirin yesterday.

At 29, Pendleton is looking over her shoulder at a legion of young riders all wanting to take her place as the face of British women’s cycling before London 2012. Armitstead is already a formidable force at 20, even though she only climbed on a bike for the first time at 15 when British Cycling turned up at her school in Otley, Yorkshire, on a talent-scouting mission. We can take it that the mission was successful.

But also coming through is Jess Varnish, a 19-year-old of immense promise, Becky James, 18, a junior world champion, and a host of others who all want to take Pendleton’s place. The race for London 2012 is hotting up among an impressive array of young women riders — and Pendleton will have to watch out.