In the men's team pursuit races, the British team led by Bradley Wiggins easily outpaced their competition to set the standard in the qualifying round at 3:51.943. Team GB beat surprise Denmark by more than three seconds at 3.453, while the world champion Australians were 3.663 seconds back.

New Zealand was fourth fastest, 4.034 seconds behind the winners, while Italy claimed the fifth spot at 7.765. Germany and Switzerland finished sixth and seventh, respectively, and will move on to the next round.

Netherlands looked to be on target to make the qualifying cut, but a crash near the end of their run put an end to any medal hopes the Dutch may have had. Instead, China claimed the eighth-and-final spot and will move on.