Dallaglio tries to clear the air over Wasps drop comments
Juggling act ‘may not be impossible’
ETHAN Hayter will be back in the velodrome to defend his omnium world title this weekend but admits he does not know if will still be able to juggle road and track racing come the Paris Olympics.
Hayter has joined the likes of Dame Laura Kenny and Katie Archibald in a 20-strong Great Britain squad headed to the outskirts of the French capital for this week’s UCI Track Cycling World Championships, but he may not return when the same venue hosts the Olympic track cycling in 2024.
The 24-year-old made his name on the track, winning his first world title in 2018 as part of the team pursuit squad, but has shone on the road since joining the Ineos Grenadiers in 2020, claiming impressive wins at the Tour de Romandie and Tour of Poland this season.
Seen as a rider capable of following the likes of Sir Bradley Wiggins and Geraint Thomas in turning track prowess into a stellar road career, many wondered if last year’s rainbow jersey would be a track swansong, but Hayter sees it differently.
“It would obviously be easier for me not to do the track,” Hayter said. “But I think I enjoy it, it’s somewhere I can still win at the worlds and Olympics hopefully.
“You have to make decisions. You can’t do every race. Even on the road, you can’t do every race. You have to pick and choose and not do too much.”
The decisions will come even before Paris. Next year’s first combined world championships, bringing together the major disciplines at one event in a format the UCI plans to repeat every four years ahead of the Olympics, will force Hayter to choose due to schedule clashes. But Hayter sees no reason why any break from the track would need to be permanent - a view shared, at least for now, by his Ineos team.
“I think as long as you’re clever with how it fits,” he added. “Sometimes it can be a benefit adding extra stimulus to your training from the track. If you look at Mark Cavendish in 2016 he won everything that year when he was focusing on Rio. I think the team are always happy if you’re going well. Maybe if it’s not working they’d start asking some questions, but it’s all right.”
WASPS director and TV pundit Lawrence Dallaglio has clarified his comments regarding the club’s financial predicament that sparked an outcry on social media.
Ahead of Sunday’s clash with Northampton Saints, live on BT Sport, Dallaglio provided an update on Wasps’ situation, after a second notice of intention to appoint administrators was filed last week - and with Monday’s deadline to pay a £2million tax bill looming.
The one-club legend was criticised for asking whether Premiership Rugby would ‘want to lose one of the biggest brands in club rugby’ following Worcester’s relegation after entering into administration.
Speaking on the Evening Standard’s rugby podcast, the 50-year-old clarified his comments and offered an apology if they were ‘taken out of context.’
“Just for clarity purposes, on Worcester being relegated, I believe they can appeal relegation should they come out of administration under different ownership. It’s all quite hypothetical with Wasps, because, up until now they are not actually in administration at the moment and I don’t think it’s fair that one club should be relegated and one shouldn’t, that’s not what I was actually saying and if people took that as what I was saying, then that’s the reason for my clarification.
“I was saying that we need to understand that there has been a global pandemic over the last three years and that we need to understand that if rugby is truly a family, then families tend to stick together, don’t they?
“I don’t agree with what’s happened to Worcester. I think it’s a heartbreaking situation. They’ve been left out there on a limb. I think rugby needs to have a really good look at itself.
Former England International Lawrence Dallaglio (Image: Getty Images)
“The game of professional rugby, in my opinion, is a very small part of the
overall game of rugby in this country, including grassroots.
Everyone has made huge investments as clubs into that professional end of the game and I think that right decisions are made to ensure the future of the professional end of the game remains in tact.
“Hopefully that clarifies the comments, I apologise if those comments were taken out of context. It certainly wasn’t my case to put that message across.”
Since Dallaglio’s initial comments
were made, three different offers have been reported as Wasps seek to find a solution to their financial problems.
Firstly, a takeover bid spearheaded by former Wasps chief executive David Armstrong was revealed on Sunday. Then on Monday evening, reports emerged that the NEC Group had bid for the Coventry Building Society Arena and this was followed by claims that former Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley had expressed an interest in the wider Wasps business, including the stadium.