Tennant to miss Track World Cup due to official concussion procedure
Andy Ten nan th as become the first rider to be benched as a result of the Great Britain cycling team’s new concussion management protocol.
The 30- year-old crashed during the team pursuit qualifying round at the European Track Championships in Berlin on 18 October and will now miss t he Track Cycling World Cup round in Manchester from 10- 12 November.
Tennant, who has won three team pursuit World Cup gold medals since 2009, told reporters after his crash he could remember little about it.
In a statement issued by British Cycling, Tennant said: “I’ m disappointed I’ mu nable to race in Manchester, the home world cup is always the highlight of our competition calendar, but I need to prior- itise my health .“My focus is now on returning to full fitness to be competitive for the rest of the season.
“I will be supporting my team- mates and looking forward to watching what should be an exciting event.”
The GB team’ s new head of medical services Dr Nigel Jones explained that introducing a concussion management protocol was one of his first priorities upon joining British Cycling.
Jones said the protocol draws upon the current accepted best practice for managing concussion in sport and his own experiences of working in other sports, particularly rugby.
“Supporting our riders’ wellbeing is an integral function of our department, and the next steps for Andy based on the protocol is to rest until the concussion symptoms disappear to ensure he makes a full recovery,” added Jones.