SAINT-QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES, France (AFP) - Australia smashed the world record by almost three seconds in stunning Britain to win the women's team pursuit at the World Track Cycling Championships on Thursday.

Olympic champions Britain had only ever failed to win the women's team pursuit once before in the seven previous times the event figured at the world championships.

But Australian quartet Annette Edmondson, Ashlee Ankudinoff, Amy Cure and Melissa Hoskins put in an astonishing ride to finish in 4min 13.683sec to better Britain's previous mark by 2.869sec.

Britain's Katie Archibald, Laura Trott, Elinor Barker and Joanna Roswell did not disgrace themselves, finishing just 0.15sec outside the old world record, but they simply could not match the Aussies' scorching pace.

Canada beat New Zealand to the bronze medal at the national velodrome in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, near Paris.