Welwyn Wheeler Laura Trott

WELWYN Wheelers cyclist Laura Trott won gold for Great Britain in the Women’s Team Pursuit at the 2011 UCI Track Cycling World Championships last night (Thursday).

On day two of the Championships the squad of 18-year-old Trott, Wendy Houvenaghel and Dani King took GB’s first gold medal of the event in Apeldoorn, Netherlands.

The trio’s storming ride against USA ensured they beat their opponents by around two seconds with a time of 3 minutes 23.419 seconds.

GB started hot and by the halfway stage were almost two seconds ahead - a gap they maintained until the end.

It was a special moment for the whole team but most notably for Hertfordshire’s Trott, who is now a senior world champion at just 18 years of age.

The bronze medal final went according to qualifying form, with New Zealand beating their antipodean rivals Australia.