Racist remarks the reason behind Briton Matthew Richardson's removal from Track World Championships
Track Cycling
Racist remarks are the reason why Great Britain's Matthew Richardson has been removed from the team at the Track World Championships in China.
Richardson had made the trip to Shanghai, China, where he was set to take part in the Track World Championships this week. The former Australian rider, now under British nationality, was then withdrawn from the competition. The reasons were cited as "serious misconduct", although it had not been clear what the British rider had done in order to receive such consequences.
"British Cycling can confirm that Matt Richardson has been withdrawn from the Great Britain Cycling Team squad for the upcoming 2026 Tissot UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Shanghai, China," British Cycling said in a statement to CyclingWeekly.
According to The Times, Richardson will have been removed from the national team after using a racist term. Richardson has allegedly made racist remarks towards an unidentified individual which has led to the disastrous situation.
Ahead of the Olympic Games in 2028, the Track World Championships this week are a key building block for Richardson, both to score points and to put on strong performances.
Matthew Richardson, an Olympic and World medalist
Richardson represented Australia until 2024, and has since September 2024 represented Great Britain on the Track. This is one of the most high-note cases of such a move in professional cycling, taking into consideration how the Kent-born rider was an Olympic and World medalist already at the time of the change.
Richardson won the old medal on the individual sprint and team sprint at the 2022 Commonwealth Games; and followed that up with a team sprint gold medal at the World Championships.
In 2024, he provided Australia with silver medals in the Keirin and individual sprint, whilst also being part of the Australian's team sprint which reached a bronze medal.
In 2025 the 27-year old became British national champion in the individual and team sprint. He is the current holder of the 200-meter time trial world record. This year, he won the European individual sprint and Keirin titles in the colours of Great Britain
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
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