Withdrawal from the squad

British Cycling confirmed on Monday, 12 October, that Matt Richardson had been withdrawn from the Great Britain Cycling Team squad for the 2026 Tissot UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Shanghai, which run from 14 to 18 October. The governing body gave no reason and declined to comment on reports first published by The Times that the withdrawal relates to a misconduct investigation. According to those reports, the allegations include discriminatory remarks about people from minority backgrounds and joking about his use of the N-word. The Times also reported that the investigation followed a complaint from another British rider, whose identity was not disclosed. British Cycling said it takes allegations of harassment, bullying or discrimination extremely seriously and investigates concerns through its established procedures, but would not comment on any ongoing process.

Richardson's response

In a statement on social media on Tuesday, 13 October, Richardson said he understood "the seriousness of what has been raised" in media reports about his withdrawal. He said he would co-operate with British Cycling's processes and added:

I will co-operate fully with its processes. I assure everyone that I will do so properly, and appropriately and with contrition for the feelings of anyone who might be affected.

He said he would not comment further until any process is complete, on advice, as British Cycling had also done, and wrote:

I am deeply disappointed to miss the World Championships, and I wish the Great Britain team and every rider competing the very best.

Richardson had been expected to contend for three medals at the championships, in the team sprint, individual sprint and keirin.

Career and rivalry with Lavreysen

Richardson was born in Maidstone and moved to Australia aged nine, representing Australia until he switched to Britain after the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, where he won silver in the individual sprint and keirin and bronze in the team sprint. He is the European champion in sprint and keirin, having beaten Dutch rider Harrie Lavreysen in both events at the European Championships earlier this year. On 14 and 15 August 2025 in Konya, Turkey, he recorded 8.941 seconds and then 8.857 seconds over 200 m from a flying start, becoming the first rider to go under nine seconds in the event. The 8.857 time remains the world record. At the 2025 World Championships in Santiago, Chile, he lost 0:2 to Lavreysen in the sprint final, and Lavreysen has won 20 world champion golds in his career. In July, Richardson was also forced to miss his anticipated England debut at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow after crashing during a keirin event in Japan.

Reaction from the Dutch camp

Hugo Haak, head coach of the Dutch track cyclists, said his squad learned of the withdrawal as they woke up. He said:

The first thing we thought was: a real shame that we cannot go up against him.

Haak said Lavreysen was also disappointed and that the approach to the sprint events has not changed, as the team prepares for every opponent. He named Leigh Hoffman, Nicholas Paul and Mikhail Jakovlev as riders the team is watching ahead of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. Haak had heard the allegations but declined to discuss them:

Those are speculations and not details, we are not dealing with that.

Haak said Lavreysen is in very good shape.