Britain’s reign in men’s team pursuit hits the skids as opponents are accused of cheating
Denmark knock British out after riders collide on track amid suggestions Danes wore illegal gear
THE Olympic velodrome descended into pandemonium yesterday when the Danish and British teams collided on track after becoming embroiled in a cheating row.
Britain’s 13-year reign as champions in the men’s team pursuit was ended after Denmark controversially advanced to the final – despite one of their riders ploughing into the back of Team GB’S Charlie Tanfield.
The Danes had been accused of using illegal “shin-tape” and undervests during Monday’s qualifying round prompting a barrage of complaints from teams and Britain’s performance director Stephen Park.
All four Danish riders were spotted sporting skin-coloured kinesiology tape on both shins – which some think can improve performance by guiding air flow – despite rules stating that riders must not apply “any material or substance onto the skin or clothing which is not itself an item of clothing” unless it is for medical purposes. Iain Dyer, British Cycling’s head coach, said that when he raised the issue with officials, they said they were given the impression that only one Danish rider would wear the tape, and were “shocked” to see all four riders wearing it.
Park added that the Danes’ undervests were also illegal as they were not publicly available on Jan 1 as per the rules. He even alleged the online “source code” on the website where the items are sold had been doctored in the last 24 hours to make it look as if the garments were for sale on Jan 1.
Asked how much of a difference the tape and the undervests might make in a 4km team pursuit, Park estimated that it was “up to three per cent”. Yet despite the UCI, the world governing body of cycling, agreeing that Denmark should not be allowed to continue using the shin-tape or the undervests, they were not disqualified and were only given a warning.
Having failed to get the Danes ruled out of the competition, Britain were furious when Frederik Madsen rode into Tanfield while trying to lap him during their race.
Both riders went down with Madsen swearing loudly and gesticulating as if it had been Tanfield’s fault. The Danish rider was seen to shout “f--- them”, presumably at the British team.
There was huge uncertainty over what should happen next and whether the Danes had already won the race by catching their British opponents before the fall. Eventually, after half an hour of deliberating, the UCI ruled that Denmark would go through to face Italy in the final.
Again British Cycling felt Denmark should have been disqualified with Dyer saying that something similar happened only last month at a track meeting in St Petersburg when Swiss rider Claudio Imhof caught up to his opponent, the Italian Davide Plebani, in an individual pursuit and was disqualified for causing a crash.
But instead Denmark progressed through to the final while Britain will fight for seventh spot today.
“I feel fairly let down by the UCI at this point that their upholding of the regulations appears to be inconsistent,” Dyer said.
Britain have won every Olympic team pursuit title going back to Beijing 2008. Their dominance is over now, though, and it has left a very sour taste with Team GB’S management adamant they should not have been riding against Denmark in the first place.
‘I feel fairly let down by the UCI at this point that their upholding of the regulations appears to be inconsistent’