Team GB had to accept a silver medal in the men’s team pursuit after a broken saddle derailed their performance during the final lap against pre-race favourites, Australia, at the velodrome today.
This outcome marks Great Britain’s fourth cycling medal at the Paris Olympics.
The quartet of Ethan Hayter, Dan Bigham, Charlie Tanfield, and Ethan Vernon entered the final as underdogs, following Australia’s world record-breaking performance in the previous rounds.
Bigham stepped in as a late replacement for Ollie Wood, who missed the initial round on Tuesday.
The British team started strong during the intense 16-lap race, maintaining pace with their rivals in the initial laps.
Throughout the race, Team GB consistently stayed just two-hundredths of a second behind the Australians, promising a nail-biting finish.
As the final lap commenced, the excitement peaked with GB trailing by only 0.168 seconds as they approached the finish line.
However, disaster struck in the final moments when Hayter seemed to suffer a saddle malfunction, forcing him to hold onto the handlebars with great discomfort to finish the race.
Post-race, it was revealed that Hayter had simply slipped off his seat after placing too much weight on the bike’s front end during the race.
The incident escalated as Hayter appeared to collide with a teammate while traveling at approximately 45 mph, making it remarkable that both cyclists managed to stay upright.
In a statement to the BBC, Hayter shared, ‘I put in a lot of effort, and my body went weak, which made it hard to stay on the bike. I don’t know how I managed to keep balance. I’m proud of securing the silver medal, but we had a real chance to win, and it’s disappointing to fall short.’
Team GB have had to settle for silver in the men’s team pursuit
More updates to come.
