Great Britain’s reign as Olympic champions in the men’s team pursuit came to an end in dramatic circumstances on remarkable day at the Izu Velodrome.

Having won gold in cycling’s blue-riband event in Beijing, London and Rio, GB will come away with seventh at best following a nightmare ride in the first round. 

The drama began when Ed Clancy, a gold medallist in the event in the last three Games, pulled out of the team and the Games because of a back injury. 

Charlie Tanfield came in, joining Wakefield’s Oliver Wood, along with Ethan Hayter and Ethan Vernon.

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Overnight, Britain had also lodged an appeal against first-round opponents Denmark and their use of shin tape and under-vests in qualifying. The appeals were rejected but the Danes were not able to use either in the first round. 

It did not appear to matter as the Danes powered clear against an understandably rusty British team, but there was to be another twist as they crashed into the back of Charlie Tanfield, who could not hold the man of the wheel in front as GB toiled. 

There was confusion over whether that would mean a disqualification for the Scandinavians, with GB progressing as Tanfield got up and finished the race. However, in the end, it was deemed that the Danes had caught GB and they progressed to the gold-medal race. 

Men’s endurance coach Iain Dyer said of Tanfield: “He's a bit battered. He was able to get up. My initial thought when I got to him was that if the Danes were going to be DQ'd then we should complete the ride because then we could progress to the gold/silver ride as winner.  

“I ran up to him, checked he was okay and put him back on the horse and pushed him off so he could complete the 4km. I felt that we fulfilled our race and we may have come out as the winners.”

That belief was based on a recent World Cup event in St Petersburg where a similar situation led to disqualification for the rider who had crashed from behind.

On this occasion, though, the decision went the other way, with GB instead set to race in the seventh-eight match-up. 

It is a disappointing way to end a reign in the men’s team pursuit that goes all the way back to Beijing, three successive gold medals with Clancy on each. 

And Dyer believes that the Brits would have been right in the hunt once again if not for the late drama. 

He added: “We would have been right at the sharp end for sure. But that's just ifs and buts you've got to deliver on the day.”

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