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And, even if Britain's young quartet of Ed Clancy, Steven Burke, Ben Swift and Andy Tennant had struck gold in the Danish capital - and they came desperately close to doing so in a super-fast final that was the first in the event's history where both teams finished inside three minutes and 56 seconds - there are other reasons why their performance was so significant.

What is worth more than any gold medal is the evidence this week that, far from providing a distraction to Britain's ambitions on the track as might have been feared, the presence of Team Sky will actually enhance it by allowing Brailsford to micro-manage his prize assets - not just stars like Wiggins, but young riders with big potential like Swift and Geraint Thomas.

Since December, the 22-year-old Swift has been able to concentrate on the World Championships and work on the team pursuit, something that would not have been an option had he stayed with Russian team , who he rode for in 2009.

As Brailsford explained to me, Team Sky has not had any negative impact on his planning for these championships - whether it be the presence of a rider like Swift, or the absence of the likes of Wiggins, who is focused on getting on the podium at the in July.

In fact the only effects are positive; planning for track and road is in perfect harmony.

"If Bradley was still riding for Garmin, then would he be here? No. That's not Team Sky related, it's more about Bradley and his career," Brailsford said.

"It's the same with Ben, who is here. We sat down with him and worked out a programme that allowed him to come out of road racing and on to the track in good condition, make his senior debut here and put in a very decent performance.

"Now we will allow him a few weeks to get his road legs back and he might underperform a little bit until he gets back to where he belongs.

"That control is a massive benefit for a few weeks. That is a massive benefit from our perspective of also having Team Sky and being able to control road and track and it also works with Geraint Thomas. Our team pursuit squad here is not our number one line up and Geraint would make that, no doubt about it. However, like Bradley, he wants a year on the road.

"But I'm sure you will see Geraint back. We will be at the World Championships next year with our A-team in the team pursuit. We will take our strongest line up and be absolutely ready to go."

What about the riders? Well, Swift is certainly happy enough with his dual agenda. He was clearly disappointed with a silver medal but will still take a lot of positives away from his first world championships, including added incentive to triumph at the .

Seconds after stepping off the podium at the Super Arena, he told me: "I will definitely continue doing both road and track up to London - that is a big objective for me. If it doesn't happen for me I will try to push forward on the road but for the moment I want to do them both.

"It's been a fantastic experience this week, even if there is a lot hanging around that comes with it. I've enjoyed it and we have had a really good time. The team has been together since the start of the year and it has been a really good period."

It's almost certain there will be more of the same to come for Swift - and the rest of the team pursuit squad, including Jason Queally.

to the British set-up only got as far as the British pen this time around but he still deserves a mention here for forcing himself back into contention 10 years after his gold medal in the .

Brailsford never acts without good reason, particularly with London on the horizon and, if Queally can continue his technical development, then even at the age of 39, he too can be part of a bright future for Britain in the team pursuit.