French coach calls for change in rules after cycle crash confession

The French coach has called for a change to the cycling rules after Philip Hindes appeared to admit deliberately crashing to help secure gold for Britain.

Florian Rousseau insisted the host nation deserved its win after it pulled off a stronger performance than his own side during a night of record-breaking sport at the Velodrome.

But he said cycling’s international governing body must now re-examine its regulations.

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His comments come after German-born rider Hindes, 19, sparked an upset by confessing that his fall during a qualifying round of the men’s team sprint was designed to give the team a second chance after a poor start.

The International Cycling Union (ICU) said the result was legitimate after Britain went on to seize gold ahead of France. Currently there is no rule to govern the incident and no appeal is possible.

Mr Rousseau accepted the final outcome but said Hindes’ ploy was a poor example of Olympic spirit. He said: “There was no cheating. The British team was much stronger than the French team and I congratulate them on their success.

“However, I do think the rules need to be more precise so we don’t find ourselves in an identical situation at another Olympic Games. The fact that he (Hindes) did it on purpose is not very good for the image of cycling. We must reflect on how we can adapt the rules so that does not happen again in future.”

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Mr Rousseau said he would be speaking to the ICU to discuss the matter and suggested there was a “strong chance” the regulations could be modified in the wake of last night’s furore.

The International Olympic Committee said Britain’s gold medal will stand.

IOC communications director Mark Adams said there was no reason to question the result.

Asked if the IOC would be looking at the result, Adams said: “At present there are no plans to do so. Our view is that people were not deprived of a contest.”

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