GB men 'on back foot' after Richardson withdrawal, but women take silver

Great Britain's men exited in the first round of the team sprint at the World Track Cycling Championships in Shanghai, losing to Australia after finishing fifth in qualifying. Joe Truman said the team had started "on the back foot" following the withdrawal of team-mate Matt Richardson, who was pulled from the competition on Monday amid allegations of misconduct.

The 27-year-old, who had also been expected to contend for medals in the individual sprint and keirin, said he would co-operate with a British Cycling investigation into the allegations. His withdrawal overshadowed preparations for the event, though the British women secured a silver medal in the team sprint.

Emma Finucane, who is Richardson's partner, along with Sophie Capewell and Rhianna Parris-Smith, finished fastest in qualifying and beat France before losing to hosts China in the gold-medal race. The men's team of Joe Truman, Ed Lowe and Harry Ledingham-Horn was beaten by fourth-placed Australia in the opening round of head-to-head races.

"We came with a bit of a last-minute change, obviously," Truman said. "We're on the back foot a bit, but let's just put our best foot forward." Elsewhere on day one, Britain's women and men progressed as first and second fastest respectively in qualifying for the team pursuit, while Abigail Miller finished 17th of 24 riders in the women's scratch race.

英国男队在上海世界场地自行车锦标赛团体短距离赛首轮出局，在资格赛中排名第五后，输给了澳大利亚队。乔·特鲁曼表示，由于队友马特·理查森在周一因涉嫌不当行为被取消比赛资格而退出，球队从一开始就处于不利地位。

这位27岁的选手原本也有望在个人短距离赛和凯林赛中争夺奖牌。他表示，将配合英国自行车协会针对这些指控展开的调查。他的退赛盖过了本届赛事的准备工作，不过英国女队仍在团体短距离赛中获得银牌。

理查森的伴侣艾玛·芬努凯恩与索菲·卡佩尔和丽安娜·帕里斯-史密斯在资格赛中成绩最快，之后击败法国队，但在金牌战中输给东道主中国队。男队由乔·特鲁曼、埃德·洛和哈里·莱丁厄姆-霍恩组成，在首轮对决中被排名第四的澳大利亚队击败。

特鲁曼说：“显然，我们遇到了临时的变动。我们处于一些不利地位，但让我们全力以赴吧。”当天其他比赛中，英国女队和男队分别在团体追逐赛资格赛中以第一和第二快的成绩晋级，阿比盖尔·米勒则在女子争先赛中以24名选手中的第17名完赛。