By Great Britain’s men are “on the back foot” at the World Track Cycling Championships in Shanghai after Matt Richardson’s withdrawal amid misconduct allegations — but the women delivered silver on a dramatic opening day.
(Credits: BBC Sport)
Richardson was pulled from the competition on Monday as he faces a British Cycling investigation into misconduct allegations, with the 27-year-old saying he will co-operate fully. His absence, combined with the loss of his expected medal contention in the individual sprint and keirin, overshadowed Britain’s preparations.
Men Knocked Out, Women Take Silver
The men’s team sprint trio of Joe Truman, Ed Lowe and Harry Ledingham-Horn qualified fifth but were beaten by fourth-placed Australia in the opening head-to-head round. “We came with a bit of a last-minute change, obviously,” said Truman. “We’re on the back foot a bit but let’s just put our best foot forward.”
There was far better news in the women’s team sprint, where Emma Finucane — Richardson’s partner — Sophie Capewell and Rhianna Parris-Smith stormed through qualifying as the fastest team, beat France, and took silver after losing to hosts China in the gold-medal race.
Elsewhere on Day One
Britain’s women and men qualified first and second fastest respectively for the team pursuit events, keeping medal hopes alive across the board. Abigail Miller finished 17th of 24 riders in the women’s scratch race.
The Richardson saga will continue to hang over the British camp, but with the team pursuit squads looking strong and the women’s sprinters already on the podium, GB have plenty still to ride for in Shanghai.
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Source: BBC Sport — read the full story there.
