Matt Richardson withdrawn from Great Britain squad for Track Cycling World Championships amid misconduct allegations

13.10.2026, 11:05 skysports.com

Matt Richardson has been withdrawn from the Great Britain team for this week's World Cycling Championships in Shanghai amid allegations of misconduct.

British Cycling confirmed the 27-year-old is in the process of leaving the squad's base in China, without giving any reason for the decision.

The Times reported on Monday he had been dropped because of a misconduct investigation, but British Cycling did not comment on these allegations.

"British Cycling can confirm Matt Richardson has been withdrawn from the Great Britain Cycling Team squad for the upcoming 2026 Tissot UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Shanghai, China," a statement from the governing body read.

The sprint star, who switched allegiance from Australia after the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, had been expected to win three medals in Shanghai in the team and individual sprints, and the keirin.

Richardson was forced out of his highly-anticipated England debut at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow earlier this year when he crashed in a keirin race shortly before he was due to fly to Glasgow.

Britain's medal events in Shanghai run from Wednesday to Sunday. Harry Ledingham-Horn, Ed Lowe and Joe Truman stay in the squad for the sprint events.

Richardson is the fastest man ever to ride a track. He went under nine seconds for the flying 200m time trial in Turkey in August 2025, twice inside two days, finishing on 8.857.

He is the reigning European champion in both the sprint and the keirin, having beaten world champion Harrie Lavreysen in February.

At the last World Championships in Santiago he took silver in the individual sprint and silver in the team sprint.

He was born in Maidstone and moved to Australia at nine. He rode for Australia until August 2024 and won three medals for them at the Paris Olympics, silver in the sprint, silver in the keirin and bronze in the team sprint.

The switch to Great Britain was announced that August and he was racing in British colours by September.

A crash in a keirin event in Japan had already cost him his England debut at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow this year. That was also meant to mark his return to international racing.