Superb Wiggins grabs pursuit gold

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Video - Wiggins wins individual pursuit gold

Bradley Wiggins retained his Olympic 4000m individual pursuit title with a magnificent ride as Britain continued to dominate the track cycling.

Wiggins was a class apart as he gradually increased his pace to beat New Zealand's Hayden Roulston by nearly three seconds.

The 28-year-old has the chance to add two more golds to his tally in Beijing.

His GB team-mate Steven Burke took an unexpected bronze after beating Alexei Markov with a polished display.

On a day of almost uninterrupted success at the velodrome, the peerless Wiggins was one of the stars of the show for Great Britain.

The Londoner, who demolished Russia's Alexander Serov in his heat, allowed Roulston to take the early initiative, but he always had plenty of extra pace up his sleeve.

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And New Zealand's Roulston, despite a game effort, could not live with Wiggins as the tempo began to increase.

"It's been a long build-up - it always is for the Olympic Games, but then it comes round so quickly," Wiggins, who will race in the team pursuit and the madison, told BBC Sport.

"I'm just pleased it's over. This is just the first one of three."

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Video - Wiggins focused on more success

Wiggins had been tipped to make an assault on Chris Boardman's 12-year-old world record, but he rode within himself in order to keep as fresh as possible for the team pursuit,

"I had to play it safe, not chase world records," he said.

"Three other guys (in the GB team) deserved to be in this race. It was the least I could do for them."

For Burke, the bronze medal was an enormous bonus, with the 20-year-old not even training for the individual event.

His preparations had been focussed on the team pursuit, with the British team deciding just 24 hours before the start of qualifying that he would race as an individual.

"Three rides at 4:19, a silver medal, I've got to be pretty happy," said Roulston.

"I wouldn't change a thing. I'll be back in 2012 to give it another crack. I think I've proved my point."