Tanfield’s road trip caps team pursuit calamity
A disastrous day for Britain’s pursuit men was capped last night when it emerged that Charlie Tanfield, their reserve rider who replaced the injured Ed Clancy yesterday, was out riding on the road for 2½ hours on Monday, thinking he would not be needed.
Britain’s defeat by Denmark in the first round of the men’s team pursuit ended a proud 13-year reign as Olympic champions.
GB will fight for seventh place today against Switzerland. But for a squad who have won the past three Olympic titles thanks to riders such as Sir Bradley Wiggins, Geraint Thomas and Clancy himself, and who pride themselves on peaking at the Games, that will feel like very thin gruel.
Britain began an extraordinary day saying they were “disappointed” the UCI commissaires had not disqualified Denmark for using what they alleged was illegal equipment during Monday’s qualifying round.
British Cycling’s performance director, Stephen Park, claimed GB were one of “multiple teams” who had lodged formal protests over the Danes’ deployment of kinesiology shin-tape and aerodynamic under-vests.
But despite agreeing their equipment broke the regulations, the UCI did not disqualify Denmark. And after three-time Olympic champion Clancy pulled out with a back injury, things went from bad to worse for Britain in their match-up against Denmark.
Tanfield was unable to hack the pace and fell off the back midway through his ride, whereupon he was hit by Frederik Madsen at the front of the Danish team. Both riders went down, with Britain’s pleas to have Denmark thrown out for causing a collision again falling on deaf ears.
But perhaps the most astounding revelation of the day came late on when British Cycling’s head coach, Iain Dyer, seeking to explain why his team had struggled, admitted that Tanfield had not been as prepared as he might have been.
“He spent the week on the track here chasing a 4km individual pursuit time, and then went out on the road yesterday for 2½ hours, which wasn’t ideal,” Dyer said. “We didn’t plan for [him riding], so we just had to play the hand that we had.”
After five years and millions of pounds spent on the team, some might find it a surprise that the reserve rider was not kept fresh.
Dyer added that he felt Britain at their best might have been a match for the Danes. Despite qualifying 2½ seconds slower, he suggested Clancy’s injury had an effect and said Britain had ridden much faster in their warm-up camp. “We would have been at the sharp end for sure,” Dyer said. “But that’s just ifs and buts. You’ve got to deliver on the day.”