MANCHESTER (Reuters) - Britain and France grabbed the spotlight on the opening day of the track cycling world championships on Wednesday.

France won the team sprint while home rider Bradley Wiggins took the 4,000 metres individual pursuit title.

Cuba's Lisandra Guerra Rodriguez captured the women's 500 metres time trial and Aliaksandr Lisouski of Belarus was first in the men's scratch race.

The French trio of Gregory Bauge, Kevin Sireau and Arnaud Tournant clocked 43.271 seconds for the three laps of the 250-metre track to land gold in the team sprint.

Britain were second and Netherlands took the bronze.

"I raced the final as if it was the last race of my career. I wasn't thinking of anything as I was riding," Tournant told reporters.

"It was great to win."

Wiggins confirmed he was the best individual pursuit rider by adding a second consecutive world title to the gold he won in the 2004 Athens Olympics.

He clocked 4:18.519 in the final, beating Dutch cyclist Jenning Huizenga (4:23.474).

Russia's Alexei Markov won the ride-off for third place in a time of 4:21.097.

THREE EVENTS

Wiggins is targeting three events here. He will ride the 4,000 metres team pursuit on Thursday and the Madison race on Saturday.

"To win in Manchester was a fantastic feeling. I'm just pleased I got the job done," he said.

"I got a bit excited in the qualifying ride and had to throttle back a bit but in the final it was just a case of going on a schedule I knew the Dutch guy wouldn't be able to match.

"It would be great to win three world titles."

The track championships continue until Sunday with a total of 18 titles up for grabs.

(Editing by Tony Jimenez)