2013-06-08 London Nocturne

Wyndy Millar have chimed in

Here are the facts, I’ll keep it simple:

Hannah was in a breakaway group with a number of the Wiggle/Honda team, the race came down to a sprint to the line from that group. Hannah took her hands of the bars to celebrate her win, (the very essence of our sport and just what the huge crowd on the night wanted to see). We then wait with bated breath to hear the result, after a number of minutes we hear that Trott takes the win. We accept the result and the team and Hannah come to terms with the fact that she did a ‘Tom Boonen’ and was pipped to the line by Laura Trott.

The judgement call as it transpires was made without reference to the photo finish, Hannah did NOT face disciplinary action on the night, NO relegation was made. NO appeal was made by MG Maxifuel on the night as there was nothing to appeal against; As far as Wiggle/Honda, MG Maxifuel & Hannah were concerned, Laura had won fair & square.

Then there are rumours from the crowd that Hannah had won, so easy to dispel, but they keep coming at us. We don’t want to be seen as bad losers, but more and more people are compelling us to ask to see the elusive photo finish. So we go through all the official channels and there is an alarmingly large amount of wooliness about the whereabouts or even the existence of a photo finish for the women’s race. Finally on Tuesday 11th June, 4 days after the race a BC commissar from the IG Nocturne informs Hannah and the MG Maxifuel team manager that upon our requested examination of the photo finish Hannah had clearly crossed the line first.

It is at this point we can only assume that the fatal error of judgement was made. Somebody at BC decided to make a square peg fit a round hole and stated that due to riders about to be lapped on the circuit they managed to find a BC technicality to make the ill-fated result stand, in short a way of making the second place rider remain the winner. It simply doesn't matter which way you turn it, this ill-fated effort to save face looks bad, very bad indeed. You only need to look as far as Facebook or Twitter to see that it has horribly backfired. Sprint relegations don’t take 4 days to reach!

So who does this affect? Well, the race organiser of such a fantastic event for starters, the public at large don’t know the technicalities of who calls the shots, they naturally blame the commentator or the race organisation. The public can certainly not be expected to understand relegation for the celebration that lies at the very heart of our sport. It affects the riders and sponsors, not least because outrageous conspiracy theories are inevitably encouraged. Lastly it affects and tarnishes the image of the great organisation that is British Cycling. I too have been guilty of mockery in this isolated poor decision. I mean really, where does Brad stand, and every other Tour de France winner for that matter when they celebrate amongst the peloton on the Champs Elysees, should they all be relegated to 2nd? I certainly don’t want to see Trott relegated for her illegal overshoes that have been brought to light any more than Hannah’s comical belated relegation for celebrating.

Can you see what has happened here? Yes, it is comedy, laughable, but there is an underlying seriousness that leaves a bad taste in everybody’s mouth – someone made an honest mistake but upon that realisation days later, the unknown person in question has not yet had the courage or dignity to admit it, it takes the bigger man to do that, but there is still time. .

Come on BC, I am your biggest fan, but it this instance BUCK UP. . And please do it before the C4 coverage on Sunday – time will need to be booked in the edit suite!