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Brad McGee pedals to glory

MANCHESTER AUG. 1. Brad McGee won his third consecutive Commonwealth Games 4,000m individual pursuit title and Ryan Bayley the sprint on Wednesday as Australia continued its dominance of track cycling at Manchester.

McGee, who won the seventh stage at the Tour de France, set a time of 4:16.358s to beat England's Bradley Wiggins.

Paul Manning of England beat Australia's Luke Roberts for bronze

``This has been one of my big goals for four years,'' McGee, 26, said. ``The opportunities may never come again. I won the first as an 18-year-old kid and now I'm a hardened pro and still winning. The next one I'll come back as a grey-haired old man.''

McGee and Wiggins are teammates at La Francaise de Jeux road cycling team. ``It was always going to be difficult mentally as much as anything because we are friends but Brad is a class rider and the time he did just proves that,'' Wiggins said.

McGee won bronze in the individual pursuit at the Sydney Olympics and bronze in the team and individual pursuit at Atlanta.

He was world champion in the pursuit in 1993 and 1994.

It was an Australian sweep in the sprint. Bayley, 20, beat Olympic bronze medallist Sean Eadie, 33, to win gold with Jobie Dajka winning bronze from England's Jamie Staff.

``I had no thought in my mind that I could come around him,'' Bayley said of overtaking Eadie on the final lap. ``He's absolutely on fire and to come and outride him is beautiful. He is a really quick rider, he's got the brains, he's been doing it for years. It's a real honour to come around him.''

Bayley became the youngest Keiren champion at last year's worlds. Australia has now won seven medals in track cycling in Manchester, four golds, two silvers and a bronze.

The results: 4,000m individual pursuit: 1. Brad McGee (Aus), 2. Bradley Wiggins (Eng), 3. Paul Manning (Eng).

Sprint: 1. Ryan Bayley (Aus), 2. Sean Eadie (Aus), 3. Jobie Dajka (Eng).

— AP

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