Australia have taken out a sweet victory over bitter rivals England in the men’s team sprint and couldn’t help but take a parting shot at a former teammate.

After a long build-up, team sprinters Ryan Elliott, Leigh Hoffman and Daniel Barber ran over England in a lightning time of 29.644 for gold.

It was the final that should have seen Australia face Matthew Richardson for the first time since his defection before he withdrew with injury, though Hoffman couldn’t help but take a cheeky swipe.

“I think maybe he got his Hogwarts invitation left in the mail; it would have been great to line up against him, but I’m sure we’ll come up against him at World Championships,” he said.

“It was horrible, I’ve seen video of the crash, it’s pretty serious. I would have loved for him to come here and race and see how Danny (teammate Danny Barber) and I stack up.

“It would have been great if he stayed in Australia, but his heart was obviously never always in it - so good riddance.”

“But there’s no better feeling than beating England in the UK; the stadium was packed out, and to pull out the win after a challenging qualifier was amazing.

“I was the youngest in Birmingham, and now I’m the eldest leading the team to gold, and hopefully it’s a bit of a snowball effect.”

The bronze race was over before it started, with Trinidad and Tobago earning their first-ever team cycling medal in Commonwealth Games history after one of Wales’ racers was ruled out by the medical team at the start line in a bizarre set of circumstances.

It came after Australia pulled out a record-breaking ride to complete an epic comeback against longtime rivals New Zealand in the 4000m team pursuit decider.

The squad of Georgia Baker, Claudia Marcks, Alyssa Polites and Felicity Wilson-Haffenden broke the Commonwealth Games record with a 4.10.658 ride to take out the gold medal at the Glasgow Velodrome. Sophie Edwards was replaced by Baker after the qualifier.

It was a thrilling ride between the two cycling heavyweights, Australia had to fight until the end against the pre-race favourites.

Despite taking an early lead, New Zealand held control for a majority and were in position to run away with the win - building their lead to as much as 0.278 at one stage.

But the green and gold grit never gave up, and the Aussie women put their head down and pedalled on - putting in a record breaking effort to win gold.

Wilson-Haffenden had a stellar ride as the lead during the closing stretch.

The sensational comeback was followed by C4 cyclist Tara Neyland setting a new world record en-route to her 4000m individual pursuit gold medal.

The 31-year-old left her competition in the dust, setting the bar high with a stunning 4.46.614 time. Neyland’s pedalled 2km/h faster then England’s Morgan Newberry in the dominant ride.

Although the men’s team pursuit side could not follow in the women’s heroics, dropping the scrappy gold medal race to England to land a bittersweet silver.

WA pair Connor Leahy and Oliver Bleddyn couldn’t push the squad over the line. It was as close as it could be, with the thinnest margins separating the two teams once each hit the halfway mark.

But England managed to jump ahead and the Aussie men couldn’t close the gap once the pressure mounted, finishing with a silver time of 3.48.223.

England set a new Games record with their 3.47.092 finish.

While Jessica Gallagher won silver in a chaotic women’s tandem B sprint final that was delayed after the riders crashed into each other.

Piloted by Jacqueline Mengler-Mohr, the Australian pair had a wobbly start to their second race and lost control - flying straight into New Zealand’s Emma Foy and pilot Jessie Hodges which saw the girls to take an ugly fall.

Perth’s Kane Perris and longtime pilot Luke Zaccaria got the medal action underway for Australia with their 1000m tandem time trial bronze.

The visually impaired West Aussie could not break the one minute mark needed pip gold from Scotland’s Neil Fachie, but comfortably landed on the podium with a 1.01.873 finish.

C4 class cyclist Erin Normoyle was shortchanged of a medal after her opponent Nicole Murray broke the world record in the individual para pursuit finals.

A formidable women’s sprint squad couldn’t match their pursuit counterpart - leaving the bronze match empty handed after a costly slow start against Scotland.