Jason Kenny claims men's sprint world title for second time

Triple Olympic champion Kenny claimed victory at the Lee Valley VeloPark in a time of 10.786 seconds in the deciding race, earning him a third world title after a three-year wait.

"It was a real slog, the time was slow, it wasn't the prettiest race of the day. Those last few rides were tough," said Kenny.

Kenny won keirin gold in 2013 and the men’s sprint title five years ago.

"It was epic and I'm just totally shattered and I'm a bit speechless," he said.

The 27-year-old British rider battled back from losing the opening race of the best-of-three final against Australian flyer Matthew Glaetzer to edge the next two.

It was his first world sprint title for five years and will send him to the Rio Olympic Games in August as the man to beat.

"Those last two rides were tough," said Kenny who won the individual and team sprints at the same London velodrome in the 2012 Olympics.

"We were both knackered to be honest. It was a real slog, it wasn't the prettiest race of the day," he told reporters as his smiling girlfriend Laura Trott warmed up for her elimination race in the omnium.

Kenny was under pressure when Glaetzer took the opener by 0.002 of a second but responded superbly to keep the hosts at the top of the medals table with three golds, one of them won by Trott in the scratch race earlier this week.

Russian Denis Dmitriev took the bronze.

Fellow Brit Laura Trott - Kenny's fiancee - is equal first in the women's omnium before Sunday's closing three events.