Slip-up robs Aussie cyclists of gold medal chance

A controversial mix-up has harmed Australia's chances of being able to compete for the gold medal in the men's cycling team sprint on Thursday night.

The Aussie trio of Patrick Constable, Nathan Hart and Matt Glaetzer were considered a good shot at bagging a gold for the host nation at the Gold Coast Games.

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But it all went horribly wrong on the first lap of their qualifying race against Trinidad and Tobago at the Anna Meares Velodrome on Thursday evening.

Only a quarter of the way into the first lap it was evident something was wrong as Constable lagged a long way behind his teammates.

Hart and Glaetzer continued racing, unaware that the third man wasn't with them anymore.

Confusion reigned after the officials failed to inform the riders that one of their team members was missing, with all three men required to hit the finish line.

The Aussies faced a nervous wait to see if they would be allowed a restart, with Constable later revealing that it was a technical issue that proved his undoing.

Fortunately, the hosts were given a restart but after sapping so much energy in the previous ride, they could only manage a time of 44.205s - meaning a chance to ride for the bronze medal against Canada rather than the gold they were after.

"It was just a pulled foot out of the pedal off the line, it happens from time to time and you hope it's never in racing but it wasn't the case this time," Constable said.

"I couldn't help feeling a bit responsible considering it was me who pulled the foot, but I was just hoping we got a re-run because I know what we're capable of and I wanted to show everyone too.

"I guess I haven't suffered as much as the other two boys, they had to do a full team sprint after the pulled foot so I'm pretty proud of them for backing up and in that second one I just wanted to put my best foot forward as well.

"Going forward it's just the same as we would do if we had put in a really good first ride and that's re-group and put in a final ride that we're proud of."