Great Britain’s Victoria Pendleton and Jess Varnish upset world cycling champions Kaarle McCulloch and Anna Meares of Australia to set a new world record in the women’s team sprint final at the World Cup meeting in London.

The British pair won in a time of 32.754sec, beating the previous best of 32.828sec set by the Australians in qualifying earlier Friday.

China, the world championship bronze medallists, finished third ahead of France.

The women’s team sprint, held with two riders and over two laps as opposed to three and three for the men, will make its Olympic debut in London in August.