Olympic champion Chris Hoy continued his dominance of the 1,000m time trial, taking out the event at a World Cup track cycling meet in his first race since winning the title in Athens.
The Scot clocked an impressive time of one minute, 1.671 seconds to claim the gold medal on the third leg of the World Cup in Manchester, England.
Australian Ben Kersten was second in 1:01:945, followed by Olympic bronze medallist Stefan Nimke of Germany, who rode 1:02:996.
It was Hoy's third-fastest time behind his victorious ride of 1:00:711 in Athens and his 1:01.599 to win gold at last year's world championships in Melbourne, Australia.
His performance was even more notable given that he spent six weeks off the bike after the Olympics and it augured well for the defense of his world crown in Los Angeles from March 23-27.
"I was very pleased with the time," Hoy said. "Particularly for this time of the season and the amount of time I've had to prepare for it. I was hoping for a 1:02 or a long 1:01.
"I was a bit surprised. It's a good stepping stone for the world championships in March."
Another British rider, Bradley Wiggins finished ninth in the scratch race -- his first competitive outing since winning three medals in Athens.
The race was won by Frenchman Jerome Neuville, with Volodymyr Rybin of Ukraine second and Ioannis Tamouridis of Greece third.
Wiggins -- who won gold in the individual pursuit, silver in the team pursuit and bronze in the Madison at last year's Games -- will also contest Saturday's points race before concentrating on his road career with French team Credit Agricole.
Rob Hayles, Wiggins' Madison and pursuit teammate in Athens, took silver behind Spanish rival Sergio Escobar Roure in the individual pursuit. Levi Heimans of the Netherlands finished third.
Former cycling world champion Jobie Dajka is expecting a mixed reaction as he returns from serving a ban for lying to a doping inquiry.
The weekend World Cup races in Manchester, England, will be the first for the 23-year-old since he was axed from the Australian Olympic team shortly before the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.
He was suspended until Jan. 1 by Cycling Australia for lying to a doping inquiry headed by Supreme Court Justice Robert Anderson.
"A lot of people have patted me on the back and said: 'Keep your head up' and, 'good to see you.' I've also had people a little bit stand-offish, don't know what to say to me, I suppose," Dajka said.
Anderson was investigating allegations that Dajka and four other Olympic squad members injected substances in a room at an Australian Institute of Sport residential facility in Adelaide.
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