Great Britain nearly caught Denmark in the final lap to claim its first Men's Team Pursuit gold medal since the London 1908 Olympic Games and improved on the previous record it set Sunday (3:55.202), finishing in 3:53.314.

Denmark (4:00.040) was out-gunned from the beginning of the 4km, 16-lap test against the clock, taking their first Team Pursuit Olympic medal since a bronze in the Barcelona 1992 Olympic Games.

In the bronze medal round, New Zealand (3:57.776) scored an impressive victory ahead of defending Olympic champions Australia (3:59.006).

The race was nearly a dead heat at the midway point, but New Zealand slowly pulled away to win their first medal in Men's Team Pursuit competition in the Olympic Games.

Australia was hoping to win its sixth medal in seven Olympic Games, but failed.

Geraint Thomas said: "We were just rattling around, it was so smooth to us, it felt easy to be honest. The pace was there and that was it. As we got closer, we knew we had won and all our morale went up and we were chasing them. We knew it was fast but 3.53, phew, can’t believe it, its great." On sacrificing  his ride in the Individual event, Geraint says "definitely worth it. That will go down in history that ride and shouldn’t be broken for a very long time. It is great to be part of this team, its awesome, Ed’s best man 1, Paul’s best man 2, and Brad is best man 4. The best team in the world."

Ed Clancy said: "Any Nerves in the gate?  "As always, but you have to think logically, we knew we were the best team out here. It was far from a formability but we knew we should win this and we had to go out and put them away and although we didn’t see that time coming, it was pretty special."

Paul Manning said: "This was the pinnacle really. We have world titles several times but to win the Olympics is something I have been waiting for. Brad and I have been part of the Team Pursuit squad since pre-Sydney so its been the best part of a decade coming. It's just so satisfying to go out on a high. The times are mega, a real bonus. All the talk from G is I want to go faster, I want to do a '54' but we had to win it first and foremost and what a performance. These guys are  fantastic, like a little family unit we are, it's just brilliant."

Great Britain's Bradley Wiggins was the key motor for Great Britain and scores his second gold medal of Beijing 2008 after winning the Men's Individual Pursuit.

Bradley Wiggins said: "This is phenomenal. Yesterday I was pretty down after the first couple of rounds because I wasn’t my usual self yesterday after the IP. I was really disappointed to feel like because I didn’t want to let these guys down. I was on the back foot yesterday after a tough day the day before and I was bit down last night as I didn’t want to let them down because I know how much these guys have sacrificed for this one event and they are happy for me to go off and do my individual stuff. G could potentially have won a medal in the individual and if we had both done it, we may not have made it to the final."

"To be part of this team is fantastic. We have come a long way in four years. To put that into perspective, that time is 11 seconds faster than the record we set in Sydney in 2000 and 11 seconds is long way in the team pursuit. I'm just delighted, really am”. On his second Gold medal, he says “I set out to do that, I believed I could do that, but to actually do it is another thing and it is such a relief when you finally cross the line and get the Gold medal."

"There is one to go with Cav and he's raring to go and hoepfully we can finish it off and get the third tomorrow." On the Madison and whether he still has the legs for that, he says “I hope so. I have trained for that and I know I was back to my usual self tonight after along sleep last night until Cav woke me playing silly buggers! I had a good sleep though and back to my usual self today so another 24 hours and its back in here with Cav and we’ll give it a good shot."

Wiggins will line up with partner Mark Cavendish in the Madison in Tuesday's final day of competition at the Laoshan Velodrome.