Ian Chadband / AAP News

Maeve Plouffe, tipped as the next big Australian women’s cycling star, has won a second medal in the space of 24 hours after adding the 3000m individual pursuit silver to the gold she annexed in the team event.

But following up from the track team’s hat-trick of golds on an opening day, Plouffe’s fellow pursuiter Sarah Roy missed out, beaten in the bronze medal race on Saturday.

Adelaide’s 23-year-old Plouffe had been thrilled on Friday to be part of the quartet that smashed the Games record en route to striking team gold and smiled afterwards that she was now after the individual title.

Plouffee, who’d clocked the second fastest time in qualifying to set up a final against the brilliant New Zealander Bryony Botha, found the Kiwi far too strong in the showdown.

Botha, smashing the Games record of 3 minutes 19.836 seconds that she’d set in the morning, clocked a searing, world-class 3:18.456.

Plouffe, who’d finished in 3:21.995 in the morning race, looked to have given her all by the time she got to the final and was almost caught on the line by her opponent, who’d started the final on the opposite side of the 250m track.

Plouffe ended 8.666 seconds behind, exhausted in 3:27.122.

In the third-place race, 36-year-old Roy, the versatile veteran who’d finished fifth in the road race four years ago, also had to give best to Neah Evans.

The Scot was always in control, clocking 3:25.050 to Roy’s 3:28.079.