After qualifying with the quickest flying lap and disposing of Japan's Seiichiro Nakagawa in the first knockout round, the key to everything was getting past his old adversary Grégory Baugé, a two-time world champion, in the quarter-finals. There was just the sniff of a little frisson as they lined up, which is almost unheard of for the gentlemanly Hoy. Baugé has just returned from a retrospective one-year ban for missing three drug tests, which actually only amounted to him missing two months of racing, although he did cede his World Championship to Britain's Jason Kenny. Hoy knows Baugé well and has no doubt he rides 'clean," but like many in the sport feels the big Frenchman got off a little lightly. Baugé took the first race in brilliant style, Hoy responded with an equally commanding win in race two and then gritted his teeth to win a much closer decider. Job done, point made and a genuine handshake of appreciation from both combatants. Thereafter, if not exactly routine, his progress to gold had an air of inevitability as he dealt firstly with Robert Förstemann and then Max Levy in the final. "Beating Grégory was key because if I didn't I would've been knocked out," admitted Hoy. I don't really worry too much about individuals or significances of certain rides. I made a mistake in the first ride - I misjudged my run - and got it right in the second one and it was a bit of guts that won the last one. On the subject of guts, no British competitor battled harder all weekend than Trott, still only 19, who more than once was left vomiting after a race, with the television cameras moving in for an interview. She may look like the cheeky girl next door but Trott is a warrior when on a bike and went into the omnium, which started on Saturday morning, with two team pursuit races in her legs and just three hours" sleep after the excitement of breaking the world record. The first day was a challenge and although she opened with second place in the flying lap discipline, Trott looked very flat indeed when struggling home in 17th position in the points race, a discipline she normally excels in. It looked ominous but this is no normal rider. After a couple of hours of much-needed sleep, she went to war again in the elimination event - a savage bunch race in which the last person over the finishing line every two laps is eliminated. At least a dozen times, Trott looked poised for the axe but every time, riding a surf wave of noise from the crowd, she dug herself out of trouble, so much so that eventually she found herself in a straight race with Canada's world champion, Tara Whitten, and after spending the entire race trying to avoid defeat, the onus was now on winning, which she achieved to thunderous applause. First up she produced a world-class individual pursuit to finish second in 3min 35.388sec behind the relentless Whitten, who had ridden so strongly for Canada when they took the silver medal in the team pursuit behind GB. A ninth in the scratch race left Trott in fourth position going into the final discipline, the 500 metre time-trial, which she won in 35.462sec to finish just two points behind gold medal winner Sarah Hammer. of the US, and Australia's Annette Edmondson, who took silver. "The points race let me down but I am pleased with my medal," Trott said. I was too conservative and didn't get stuck in at all. We're going to look at that, without compromising my team pursuit training which must come first. Pendleton, meanwhile, was the only other individual British rider in medal contention and for most of the day looked favourite to take gold in the keirin. After failing to win her qualifying race she won the repechage, quarter-final and semi-final in imperious style but come the final a long weekend finally caught up with her and she had to be content with fifth. Afterwards she expressed the hope that when she returned here she would be in better shape and "show them how it's done." It was a slight reality check, and not unwelcome given the bigger picture, but make no mistake this was the best weekend Great Britain's track cyclists have enjoyed for a couple of years.