The Great Britain team pursuiter Andy Tennant has defended the medal‑or‑nothing ethos of British Cycling as it awaits UK Sport’s review of its culture and history – which is expected to be highly critical – saying it is not all about being “all cuddly and care bears”.
Tennant was dropped at the last moment from the final team pursuit lineup for the London Olympics and then had to endure similar disappointment last year, when he was named as first reserve and did not travel to Rio. But he took issue with the view of his former team-mate Wendy Houvenaghel, a long-standing critic of the system who said she was treated “shabbily” after missing out in the women’s team pursuit lineup in 2012.
“Was I fast enough to ride the semi-final [in London]?” said the 30-year-old, who admitted he has not contributed to the review. “Yes, but would that have made [the team] go faster? Probably not. You could probably say the same thing about Wendy. I think she could probably have gone into that squad [in London], [they] would still have qualified but it was not necessarily their fastest team … I don’t know how you can complain against the selection panel when they put a team in that just broke the world record.”
Houvenaghel said the decision to omit her in 2012 was “vindictive” and has since accused the team of bullying and ageism (she was 37 and had youthful team-mates). Tennant said that in his view the time for compassion and caring treatment was when competition was over.
“It’s great to be all cuddly and care bears but in my opinion they shouldn’t be spending time on us – I mean me and Wendy on this occasion – when they’ve got four riders who have got to go and win a medal, that’s what they are there for. I would personally have felt really guilty if I had taken the support staff and the coaches’ time up and that had detracted from their performance. Because then I have affected four other people and would have been selfish. After the competition is the time to grieve and speak to people if you need to. I certainly wouldn’t have brought that on.”
Tennant said that on that occasion he had not gone to British Cycling for support, preferring to lean on his family, but that 12 months ago he had been looked after well when he had approached the former technical director Shane Sutton, whose resignation amid allegations of sexism and use of inappropriate language has sparked the current crisis.
“About two or three weeks before [the 2016 worlds] I could see that I had a problem but he had said that his door was always open. I’d never taken him up on that before but I could see my Olympics slipping away. We sat down and he talked to me for quite a long time, so in my opinion when I asked for the support it was there. I’d just gone to the big boss, straight to the top, he was willing to take time, we had about an hour and a half in Starbucks in Wilmslow. I went on to win a silver and a bronze.”
Tennant will ride in the upcoming world championships in Hong Kong for Great Britain.
