LONDON (Reuters) - British cycling poster girl Victoria Pendleton and her arch rival Anna Meares of Australia continued their stroll towards a much anticipated final when they advanced unchallenged into the Olympic sprint semi-finals on Monday.

Defending champion Pendleton, who took the keirin gold on Friday, progressed with a 2-0 easy victory over Olga Panarina of Belarus while Meares brushed aside Ukrainian Lyubov Shiluka by the same score.

Meares could even afford to lose her visor without being bothered as she set up a semi-final meeting with either China's Guo Shuang or Cuba's Lisandra Guerra Rodriguez.

Pendleton, the world champion in the discipline, will take on Germany's Kristina Vogel, who won the team sprint event last Thursday.

(Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Jason Neely)