HAMPSHIRE ace Rob Hayles experienced emotions at two ends of the spectrum at the World Track Cycling Championships in Los Angeles.

The Portsmouth rider went into the event with high hopes of gold in the individual pursuit, only to fail to get past the qualification stages.

But Hayles bounced back to win gold in both the two-man 'Madison' relay event and the four-man team pursuit in the steeply-banked wooden velodrome.

It was the first time Hayles, the lynchpin of the GB squad in this event for many years, had won team gold - he had previously collected silver.

He went one better when he helped defeat Holland by four seconds.

Hayles went into the final event of the championships, the Madison, with nothing to prove. His teammate from the last two Olympics, Bradley Wiggins, was resting and Hayles was paired instead with 19-year-old Mark Cavendish, who was riding his first senior championships and an unknown quantity at such a level.

The Madison is named after Madison Square Gardens in New York, where what is basically a relay race on bikes was first staged in 1899.

One rider rests at the top of the track while his team-mate races in a fast moving line at the bottom.

As they meet they grab hands and slingshot the resting rider into the race.

At over 30 miles an hour, the feeling is not unlike having your arm pulled out of its socket!

At half distance in the 50-kilometre event, Hayles launched a devastating attack that caught his opponents napping.

The two Brits opened up a half-lap lead very quickly and, despite a sprint finish from Russian Mikhail Ignatiev, were crowned world champions.

Hayles will now have the honour of wearing the rainbow bands on his jersey for the rest of his career. Results:

Men's Madison: 1 Mark Cavendish/Robert Hayles (GB) at one lap; 2 Robert Slippens/Danny Stam (Netherlands) 22 pts; 3 Matthew Gilmore/Iljo Keisse (Belgium) 20; 4 Mikhail Ignatiev/Nikolai Troussov (Russia) 19; 5 Andy Flickinger/Neuville Jrme (France) 14; 6 Martin Blaha/Petr Lazar (Czech Republic) 11; 7 Gregory Henderson/Peter Latham (New Zealand) 7; 8 Mrkv Michael/Alex Rasmussen (Denmark) 6; 9 Robert Bartko/Guido Fulst (Germany) 4; 10 Marty Nothstein/Colby Pearce (USA).

Men's 4000m team pursuit: GB 1.05.508 (1) 2.05.202 (1) 3.05.088

(1) 4.05.619 (58.627km/h) - Steven Cummings,,Robert Hayles,Paul Manning, Chris Newton bt Holland1.05.998 (2) 2.06.782 (2) 3.07.558 (2) 4.09.971 (57.606km/h) - Levi Heimans, Jens Mouris, Peter Schep, Niki Terpstra.