Rod of Iron

Rod Ellingworth, the manager of Great Britain’s elite men’s road team, lambasted his squad’s poor performance, where every rider retired long before the finish. Ellingworth, also the Performance Manager at Team Sky, questioned the attitude of some of his most successful riders in an interview with the BBC and said the men who rode in Florence had “no excuses”. All of them had underperformed, he said.

Ellingworth’s frank assessment is to be welcomed. Compare and contrast with the litany of excuses peddled by the management of the nation’s dismal football team after each squandered tournament. If cycling’s top wage earners imagine a sub par performance in a Great Britain jersey is acceptable, as England players drawn from the Premier League’s richest clubs clearly believe, Ellingworth has other ideas. His performance on Sunday is to be applauded, even if those of his riders – with the exception of Mark Cavendish and Geraint Thomas – should not.