Pervis wins second gold medal at track cycling worlds

SAINT-QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES, France (AP) Frenchman Francois Pervis successfully defended his 1-kilometer time trial title to claim a second gold medal in as many days at the track cycling worlds on Friday.

Pervis, who also retained his keirin title on Thursday at the Velodrome National, won in 1 minute 0.207 seconds ahead of German Joachim Eilers to give France its third gold of these world championships after the men's team sprint on the opening day of competition.

Eilers finished in 1:00.294 to edge Matthew Archibald of New Zealand, who took bronze in 1:00.470.

Former triathlete Rebecca Wiasak of Australia won the women's individual pursuit by defeating Jennifer Valente of the United States in the final, and Artur Ershov of Russia won the men's 40-kilometer points race.

The 30-year-old Wiasak, who switched to track in 2011, won in 3 minutes, 30.305 seconds. Amy Cure, a member of the Australian team which won gold in the team pursuit on Thursday, took bronze by defeating Briton Joanna Roswell in the final for third place.

Pervis, the world record holder in the 1-kilometer, is bidding to defend the three gold medals he won at the 2014 world championships. He will also compete in Sunday's individual sprint event.

Pervis, who thought about withdrawing from the competition following a bout of illness over the winter, claimed a third world title in his favorite event and his sixth gold medal overall.

''I checked on the internet this morning and I realized that with five individual world titles I was level with my elders Florian Rousseau and Arnaud Tournant, who were the sprint leaders in France when I started at the French Institute of Sports and taught me everything,'' said Pervis, who did not make the cut for the 2012 Olympics. ''I had the chance to overtake them, and I did it. It's good to break records, I love it.''

Although he appeared exhausted after the brutal effort in front of his home crowd, Pervis will be the favorite of the sprint despite the short recovery time ahead of Saturday's qualifying.

''A sprinter is never satisfied, otherwise he is not a sprinter,'' he said.