It started badly and got progressively worse for Great Britain’s men’s track cycling team.
An eighth place finish for the men’s team pursuit quartet – short of Steven Burke and Andy Tennant, both ill – meant the squad suffered their worst result since the turn of the century and that set the tone for not one British male to return from Colombia with a medal.
Jason Kenny won through to the keirin final but came fifth and the Bolton rider was again fifth in the sprint. Ed Clancy provided some rare joy with three victories in the omnium, but an inconsistent ride in the other three events meant he too finished fifth overall.
And to round off a bad week all round, young riders Owain Doull and Jon Dibben finished last in the Madison, with nil points. Some observers must have thought it was Eurovision, not track cycling.
What went so badly wrong for the Brits? The men’s team pursuit quartet clearly missed both Burke, part of the Olympic gold medal winning squad at London 2012, and Tennant, a former world champion, but, as Great Britain’s women have shown, a pursuit squad needs strength in depth.
For their sprinting counterparts, the season has never really kicked off. Replacing Sir Chris Hoy would always be a big ask, and though Matt Crampton has earned some success this year, winning keirin gold at the Mexico World Cup, he failed to replicate that form in Cali.
One thing is for certain, though. There are still two years until the Olympic Games and British Cycling’s riders, staff and coaches will be working tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure the national anthem is playing regularly in Rio.
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