JESSICA Varnish and racing partner Becky James won bronze at the UCI Track Cycling World Championships.

The pair defeated the Russian team of Elena Brezhniva and Anastasiia Voinova in a time of 33.032 to win Great Britain’s first medal of the competition.

"It was a solid performance tonight," said Bromsgrove resident Varnish.

"It's a really different track to what we've ridden on and you can't really compare it to other performances. I think we should be happy.

"It's a really good start."

Halessowen Cycling Club member Varnish, who missed last year’s event in Belarus due to a career-threatening back injury, rode in the man-one position and together with James qualified third in 33.214 seconds.

In the bronze-medal final, Russia held a slim lead of just over one-tenth of a second at the halfway point but double world champion James managed to overturn the deficit to match the medal win from 2013.

James, who rides in the 500m time-trial on day two, said: "I'll take everything a day at a time. Got today out the way and got a bronze medal. I'll see how each day goes and do my best."

Olympic champions Miriam Welte and Kristina Vogel retained the world title for Germany.

There were no medal rides in the men’s team sprint or team pursuit for Great Britain at the Velodromo Alcides Nieto Patino.