Great Britain took encouragement from a brilliant silver medal in the men's team sprint on the opening day of the UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Berlin.
Jack Carlin, Jason Kenny and Ryan Owens knew they faced a tough task in the final after the Netherlands set a new world record time to qualify.
And so it proved as the Dutch sprinters bettered their world record in the gold-medal showdown to cross the line in 41.225 seconds as they finished on top of the podium.
Elsewhere, Laura Kenny delivered a gutsy performance to finish just outside the medals in the women’s scratch race - just a month after breaking her shoulder.
The 27-year-old, a four-time Olympic champion, was edged out on the line by Portugal’s Maria Martins as she was forced to settle for fourth.
The Netherlands’ Kirsten Wild claimed the gold medal while Jennifer Valente of the United States took silver in the race, which Kenny won back in 2016.
Kenny suffered the shoulder injury in a crash at the World Cup in Milton in January but chose not to have an operation to continue her Tokyo 2020 preparations.
And despite her injury, Kenny admitted she was frustrated to miss out on the podium: “It was one of those races and it's such a lottery - it's hard to not be disappointed.
“I should've let Kirsten go a bit and if I had some space I would've had something to run into. I was going full gas and fourth is the worst place you can finish.
“I wanted to give it a shot and I knew on the plane I had to try to get to the World Championships. I wanted to come regardless of my form and I'm quite pleased to be here, but I wish I had done better in that race.
“I feel alright, that's why it's frustrating. It's just a tactical error and one of those things you can change. My legs felt good but my tactics were just not that good.
“My shoulder is still broken but when I'm on the bike I can't feel it at all.”
Meanwhile, it was also a frustrating night for the men’s pursuit team as the quartet of Ed Clancy, Ethan Hayter, Charlie Tanfield and Ollie Wood failed to reach the medal races.
Picture credit: British Cycling