Wild accusation of subterfuge after Olympics loophole backflip

The result of cycling’s biggest controversy is still uncertain after reports of a new protest surrounding accusations of a team cover-up.

More than 24 hours after the first complaints against the Danish cycling team leaked out into the public, the controversial situation remains unresolved, according to reports this morning.

In one of the most dramatic days in Olympic track cycling, the British team was one of several countries to protest against team Denmark over the use of kinesiology tape and aero-resistance undervests.

Just hours later Britain and Denmark squared off in the semi-finals of the men’s team pursuit on Tuesday night and their rivalry exploded again when there was a heavy crash between Danish rider Fredrik Madsen and Britain rider Charlie Tanfield.

It was wild scenes as Madsen crashed into Tanfield, who had dropped off from his team and was about to get lapped by the Danish team.

The Danish rider was furious as he left the track, yelling “f*** them”.

Britain protested the result as a result after it was ultimately ruled Denmark had successfully lapped the British team at the point of the crash, ending the contest immediately and making any blame for the crash irrelevant.

But the heated scenes didn’t end there.

In the early hours of Wednesday morning Britain launched a fresh protest to have the Denmark team disqualified over the tape and vests used earlier in the competition.

British Cycling’s performance director Stephen Park said the team was considering its legal options after Denmark was allowed to win through to the gold medal race.

The Danish riders backflipped on their use of the tape.

Cycling’s governing body, Union Cycliste Internationale ultimately ruled the accessories were outside the rules, but allowed Denmark to escape with a warning, rather than disqualification.

Danish riders showed up for Tuesday night’s semi-final without the kinesiology tape — that had raised suspicions — strapped around their ankles and shins.

It was some miraculous recovery for the entire squad.

Park made three separate, public protests against Denmark, saying his opposition should have been disqualified for all three of the complaints he was making.

Britain claims equipment was covered up in act of subterfuge

He said before the race with Denmark the team should have been disqualified and then continued to cry foul after his team’s defeat by making extraordinary claims Denmark had been involved in an act of subterfuge surrounding the equipment it has used these Olympics.

According to published Tokyo Olympics documents, Denmark is heading into the gold medal showdown with Italy and Britain has been relegated to the seventh-place play-off with Switzerland. However, reports today claimed the UCI was still yet to make a final decision on Denmark’s ongoing participation in the event.

The uncertainty surrounded late comments from Park where he suggested the aero-vests worn by the Danish team were outside the rules because they are using equipment not available for public purchase — as it is stated in the rules for Olympic track cycling. He said the accessories were also outside the rules because they were specifically used for performance-enhancing purposes.

More on #shingate. Park suggests Denmark's undervests were not available for sale publicly on Jan 1 (as UCI rules state they must be). Says it appears that online "source code" was changed in last 24hrs to suggest they were. #Tokyo2020

— Tom Cary (@tomcary_tel) August 3, 2021

Park claimed the Danish team attempted to conceal its use of triathlon equipment brand HUUB’s undervests by suggesting the source code for purchasing the item had only been added in recent days.

Olympic rules state that team’s can only use garments that have been publicly available since January 1.

He said Britain has not ruled out further legal action in responding to the UCI’s decision not to disqualify Denmark.

“Do I think they should be disqualified? I don’t think there is any alternative. The rules are clear,” Park said, according to The Daily Mail.

Hard to see how they thought the world might not notice.

“It says you cannot apply something to the skin. They have applied something to the skin.

“It says in the specific rule that if you break that rule, your option is for being eliminated or disqualified, so they have no option. There is no doubt in anyone else’s mind that it is deliberate.”

He said other national teams also believe Denmark had broken the rules by using equipment that they did not have a chance to have accessed before January 1.

“The relevance of that was whether it was for aerodynamic gain or not and whether it was available for sale,” he said.

“Unfortunately to the first point, the item in question, which is a HUUB garment, is actually advertised as an aerodynamic undervest, so there can be little doubt as to whether or not it is there for aerodynamic purposes or not.

Park estimated that the undervests could be worth “up to three per cent, so pretty significant.

“There is also a question because none of the teams believe it was for sale on January 1, particularly as a number of teams have researched into the source code of the website and found that it was actually published in May.”

Britain also wanted Denmark disqualified for crash

But Britain believed Denmark should have been disqualified for the collision, having already complained about the Danes wearing illegal garments on Monday, including tape on their legs and undervests, to reduce resistance.

Instead, Denmark went unpunished for the garments while Madsen was considered to have caught Tanfield.

Frederik Madsen of Team Denmark and Charlie Tanfield of Team Great Britain on the ground after fall.

Denmark advance to Wednesday’s final against Italy while Britain were handed a race for seventh against Switzerland.

“My take on it was he caused the crash of an opponent,” said British coach Iain Dyer. “We feel pretty let down by the UCI.” On the illegal tape and undervests, British cycling’s performance director Stephen Park said: “Do I think they should be disqualified? I don’t think there is any alternative.

“The rules are clear. It says you cannot apply something to the skin. They have applied something to the skin.”

Rider apologises for crazy crash

Denmark was awarded victory in the despite Madsen’s smash into the back of Tanfield.

“I was so tired, I didn’t know if Charlie was 10 or 20 metres away. I couldn’t react,” said Madsen. “It’s awful for this to happen in an Olympic semi-final.”

Denmark were on the cusp of a clear victory and potentially an Olympic record at the time of the crash.

He then apologised to Britain after the race.

“I hope Charlie is okay. It’s awful that this happened in an Olympic semi-final,” he said.

“I just had so many emotions running through me and I just hope he is okay,” Rodenberg said.

“I was not saying things at Charlie. I was basically shouting because I was frustrated, not at Charlie but at the situation. I’m not at the Olympics to run into someone and crash. And I hope all the best for Charlie.

“I don’t wanna be on the ground. I was just frustrated at the situation, not at him. Because he was doing his job and I was doing my job.”

— with AFP