The British favourite for the World Championship under-23 time trial was filmed running to his bike after appearing to miss his start time
Charlie Tanfield was filmed running to the start ramp in Innsbruck as the buzzer sounded for him to start his run.
The 21-year-old rolled away around two seconds late and then lost more time as he struggled to clip into his pedals heading into the first corner.
Speaking to interviewers after the finish, Tanfield said: “I thought the guy in front of me was still sat on his chair ready to go and it turns out it wasn’t him.
“I had everyone around me and I thought it was fine. Next thing I know it’s 10 seconds to go and I ran to the bike.
“At the end of the day, I was still a minute down. Even if that didn’t happen I wouldn’t be in the lead anyway.
“It’s sh*t, but it wasn’t a dealbreaker.”
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Tanfield, who rides for the Canyon-Eisberg continental team, took part in the U23 time trial as part of the British squad on Monday afternoon.
He competed alongside Ethan Hayter, who briefly held the provisional fastest time.
Dan Bigham shared the video of the moment on Twitter, saying “this is classic Tanfield.”
THIS IS ABSOLUTE CLASSIC TANFIELD 😂😂😂😂😂😂 Going to have to go #FullGas AND get #RealAeroLike 😂😂😂😂 #InnsbruckTirol2018 @CharlieTanfield pic.twitter.com/7FuFtYAbhL
— Dan Bigham (@DanBiggles22) September 24, 2018
British Cycling tweeted saying Tanfield had an early problem off the start ramp that “hampered his rythmn.”
They had tweeted after Hayter finished to say Tanfield was waiting for his start time.
😮 Oh no! What just happened to @CharlieTanfield 🇬🇧 ?#InnsbruckTirol2018 pic.twitter.com/RUHP2DYUFV
— UCI (@UCI_cycling) September 24, 2018
Tanfield was more than 30 seconds down by the first timing interval and finished a minute down on the provision fastest time of 33-04.
Charlie finished eighth in the 2018 Commonwealth Games time trial, while his brother Harry Tanfield finished second behind Australia’s Cameron Meyer.
U23s are riding a 27km time trial course, with some tricky climbs to tackle in the second half.
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The event follows the junior women’s time trial earlier in the day.
Britain’s Elynor Bäckstedt finished third, followed by team-mate Pfeiffer Georgi in fourth.
The junior women’s TT was won by Rozemarijn Ammerlaan (Ned), with a time of 27-02.
