Team GB cycling left furious as brutal crash leaves rider feeling like a ‘crash test dummy’

Workforce GB bike owner Ollie Wooden felt like a ‘crash take a look at dummy’ after being dramatically worn out by a Dutch opponent throughout a mad Olympic Madison in Paris.

Wooden, 28, was controversially taken down with 40 laps to go throughout the chaotic occasion as there seemed to be head-to-head contact between him and Jan-Willem van Schip.

Workforce GB didn’t complain about Van Schip’s transfer, however the Dutch workforce had been later disqualified from the race and Van Schip fined 1,000CHF (£720) for a “blow with the helmet” in keeping with the commissaires’ determination.

Wooden’s racing line seemed to be deliberately intercepted as he was inexplicably despatched plummeting to the canvas in entrance of a surprised Vélodrome Nationwide de Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines crowd.

The incident meant Workforce GB misplaced a vital lap and 20 factors as they ended up ending tenth out of 15 groups whereas Portugal grabbed gold forward of Italy.

Talking concerning the collision, Wooden, 28, mentioned: “I’ll be nice and reside to battle one other day.

“It’s not my first crash however it’s a bit totally different while you get hit from behind and also you don’t see it coming.

“There have been a whole lot of resting riders, so he in all probability thought as an alternative of a excessive line, he’d reduce it nice and he ploughed into me.

“I’ve acquired no clue [if it was a clash of heads] – I simply acquired hit actually onerous from behind by the most important rider on the monitor.

“Everybody’s cognitive features began to say no at one given level fairly quickly – there have been a lot of lapses of focus and when there are individuals everywhere in the monitor, wheels colliding is inevitable.

“He hit me so onerous, I felt like a crash take a look at dummy. General, I simply didn’t have the legs to execute it right this moment.”

Teammate Mark Stewart, who was compelled to hurry again onto the monitor to renew the race after the incident, added: “I assumed if I wasn’t already struggling, I’m going to undergo now!”

Stewart, who gained Madison World Championship silver in Glasgow alongside Wooden final yr, solely found he can be racing on Saturday morning after being given a sign by Hayter the earlier night.

Hayter had mixed with Dan Bigham, Charlie Tanfield and Ethan Vernon to scoop workforce pursuit silver behind Australia in midweek however was compelled to withdraw from the Madison with a calf damage.

And requested about his eleventh-hour call-up, Stewart mentioned: “You’ve acquired to be able to race the entire time and all, credit score to Ethan – I noticed how deep he went in these workforce pursuits and you may see he wasn’t proper.

“I assumed there was an opportunity I’d get the decision and I took the position significantly.

“It was a horrendous mixture of the worst nerves ever and confidence – we’re excessive efficiency athletes, have superb help from British Biking so that you do go on the market with confidence.

“However you’ve additionally acquired this contrasting factor of it being essentially the most nervous you’ve ever been in your life.

“Ethan gave me a heads up yesterday and I mentioned ‘take on a regular basis you want’ as he’s been phenomenal.

“We simply struggled to make an impression – we knew it was going to be sizzling and quick as a result of that is the Olympics, so we rode comparatively conservatively however on the finish of the day our legs by no means got here out.”

Earlier within the night, Jack Carlin kicked off his newest pursuit of a long-awaited main gold medal by progressing to the lads’s keirin quarter-finals.

The Paisley peddler, 27, gained workforce dash silver and particular person bronze earlier this week and acquired his third and last marketing campaign underway in simple style.

Carlin, a three-time world and four-time European silver medallist, completed second in his warmth behind Dutch star Harrie Lavreysen to soundly advance mechanically forward of residence French favorite Sebastian Vigier.

He’ll race for a spot within the last this morning after British teammate Hamish Turnbull, who mixed with Carlin for that workforce dash silver, additionally ultimately superior through a repechage on Saturday evening.

Carlin is a serial silver and bronze medallist however nonetheless stays with out a gold on the main stage.

He gained workforce and particular person dash silver in Tokyo three years in the past and produced a carbon copy of these outcomes in Paris final week.

Away from the Olympics, Carlin stays massively embellished on the world and European phases however with out that elusive gold.

He’ll hope to vary that within the keirin competitors which resumes this morning and reaches its thrilling climax on the Parisian boards at lunchtime.

Within the last occasion of the night, fellow Workforce GB stars Emma Finucane and Sophie Capewell efficiently navigated their manner via to the ladies’s dash semi-finals.

The duo, who mixed with Katy Marchant for an exhilarating workforce gold earlier this week, progressed via each of their races and like Carlin, will compete once more this morning bidding to maintain their hopes of a person medal alive.

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