The New Zealand men's team pursuit have been disqualified from tonight's bronze medal ride at the Commonwealth Games after one of the team's bikes was found to be in breach of regulations.
Photo: Momnium
The team appealed the decision, but that appeal has been dismissed.
The bike was found to be non-compliant by officials for having an incorrect cockpit height.
A maximum height of 100mm is allowed and the New Zealand bike came in at 105-106mm.
The team's high-performance director Martin Barras said the blame ultimately lay with him and he apologised to the riders.
"Unfortunately these things happen, different rigs have different measurements." says Barras
"The very same bike has actually passed inspection at world championship with same set up that we used tonight."
He said it was bitterly disappointing, with the men's team pursuit heavy favourites to take the bronze medal over Canada.
"It was a particularly painful apology to make to the four guys considering they had a very good ride." say Barras
"It's never happened to one of my teams so I'm not feeling particularly good about it."
The New Zealanders are still guaranteed three medals tonight with the men's and women's team sprint and the women's team pursuit to fight for gold or silver.
