Team GB blunder and Vinokourov takes gold

When Great Britain’s Team Principal David Brailsford was quizzed on his team’s plans prior to Saturday’s Olympic men’s road race, his response drew as much exasperation as it did wry smiles from rivals teams.

Mark Cavendish, he exclaimed, “is our plan A, plan B.. and every other letter of the alphabet”.

Brailsford has earned a reputation as one of the most meticulous planners in the peloton and just a week previous he plotted the course of Bradley Wiggins to become the first Briton to win the Tour de France. But how he will rue investing the hopes of a nation on the shoulders of Cavendish after their plan backfired horribly on Saturday.