Defending champions Australia qualified second-fastest behind arch-rivals Great Britain in the men's team pursuit on day one of the world track cycling championships.

The two countries will meet in tonight's gold medal ride-off at Melbourne's Hisense Arena.

The British were the third-last team in the qualifying session and they posted the third-fastest time in history for the 4000m event of three minutes 54.485 seconds.

As reigning world champions, Australia started last and were more than a second ahead of the British time after the halfway mark.

But Glenn O'Shea, Jack Bobridge, Rohan Dennis and Michael Hepburn could not sustain the pace and clocked 3:54.654.

The British are the reigning Olympic champions and they have the three fastest times in history.  They set the world mark of 3:53.314 at the Beijing Olympics.

The Aussies have been clear in stating they want the world and Olympic titles to themselves. Hear from Michael Hepburn and Jack Bobridge by clicking on these links.

New Zealand (3:59.156) will meet Russia (3:59.260) in the bronze-medal ride.

The other Olympic distance finals tonight are the men's and women's team sprint events. Hear from three-time world champions in the event Anna Meares and Kaarle McCulloch here.

Action will be live on SBS TWO. Check local guides for details.

AAP