Izu (Japan) (AFP)

Terrible disillusionment Thursday for Benjamin Thomas, at the velodrome of the Tokyo Olympics: the French, come to seek the gold of the omnium, fails at the foot of the podium in an event won by the British Matthew Walls.

There was no lack of disappointments for French cycling during these Games, between the failure of mountain bikers and that of BMX "riders".

But Benjamin Thomas, the reigning omnium world champion, was certainly one of the surest medal chances.

And the bronze of the speed team on Tuesday had given the French delegation some balm in the heart.

In full maturity at 25, Thomas had indeed openly displayed his ambition to become Olympic champion, after having been twice world champion (2017, 2018) in this specialty which combines four different events.

"I am disappointed, because I know that today the podium was playable and I missed it", declared the Tarnais, who accepted with honesty "tactical errors", in particular in the last test, the race to points.

The French Benjamin Thomas leads the omnium ahead of the Japanese Eiya Hashimoto and the Australian Sam Welsford, on August 5, 2021 at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 Peter PARKS AFP

"At the Games, between the first, there is not much difference physically, everyone arrives at the top. The difference is made a lot on the tactics", he admitted.

Presented for months as the favorite of the omnium, the young man also recognizes that this status weighed on him: "The pressure, I had more than usual (...) I felt it. Physically I was in the nails, but this little pressure, this little stress cost me cartridges, for sure, "he said.

- Vigier stopped in quarter -

He will now have to re-mobilize himself, because his Olympic week is not over.

He can still hope to win a medal on Saturday in America, associated with young Donavan Grondin.

"It hurts, but the Games are not over. I hope we will get a medal, because I really have nothing more to lose in these Games," concluded Thomas.

The Frenchman was not beaten by strangers.

The new Olympic champion Matthew Walls won the omnium bronze at the Berlin World Championships and is the reigning European champion in the specialty.

His runner-up, New Zealander Campbell Stewart, won the world title in 2019, and the third, the experienced Italian Elia Viviani, was crowned Olympic champion in Rio.

In the other events, Sébastien Vigier stopped in the quarterfinals of the individual sprint tournament, logically beaten by the Dutchman Jeffrey Hoogland, one of the favorites for the gold which will be awarded on Friday.

"I + took + from very far, I tried to annoy him, but he was too strong", admitted the 24-year-old runner.

"But I had a very good tournament, I managed to go to the quarter-finals and I'm very proud of it."

The French speed leader still has the keirin tournament on Saturday and Sunday to try to shine at Izu, the Olympic velodrome 145 km from Tokyo, where the stands are partially filled, health standards being more flexible than in the capital.

The other podium of the day was that of the ladies keirin, where Mathilde Gros was eliminated in the quarter-finals.

The Olympic title went to the Dutchman Shanne Braspennincx, ahead of the New Zealander Ellesse Andrews and the Canadian Lauriane Genest.

© 2021 AFP