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New Zealand beats Britain in men's team pursuit final

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SAINT-QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES, France (AP) Olympic champions Britain lost to New Zealand in the men's team pursuit final at the track cycling world championships Thursday.

The all-black clad Kiwi squad of Pieter Bulling, Dylan Kennett, Alex Frame and Marc Ryan won cycling's marquee event in 3 minutes, 54.088 seconds.

Defending champion Australia was third.

It was redemption for the New Zealand team after its relegation to silver in the men's team sprint final against France on Wednesday, when officials ruled its first relay had been a fraction of a second too early.

In the women's team pursuit final, Australia's Ashlee Ankudinoff, Amy Cure, Annette Edmondson and Melissa Hoskins set a world record of 4:13.615, smashing the mark by nearly 3 seconds to beat defending champion Britain. Canada took the bronze.

France's Francois Pervis successfully defended his gold medal in the men's keirin race, over Eddie Dawkins of New Zealand. Azizulhasni Awang of Malaysia took bronze. The win was Pervis' first step in his bid to defend the three gold medals he won at the 2014 world championships. It was France's second gold of these world championships after the men's team sprint win on Wednesday.

Russia's Anastasia Voynova beat world record holder Anna Meares of Australia in the women's 500-meter time trial. Defending champ Miriam Welte of German took bronze.

Germany's Lucas Liss won gold in the men's scratch race, over Spain's Albert Torres and Bobby Lea of the United States.

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