A cycling race ended in pandemonium when a gold-medal favorite crashed into an opponent, yelled 'f--- them,' and almost got his team disqualified

• A heat of the men's team-pursuit track cycling at the Tokyo Olympics ended in chaos on Tuesday.
• Denmark's Frederik Madsen smashed into the back of Team GB's Harry Tanfield and screamed at him.
• As Madsen walked away, he could be heard yelling "f--- them!" - seemingly in reference to Team GB.

An Olympic track-cycling race ended in dramatic fashion when Danish rider Frederik Madsen crashed into the back of Team GB's Harry Tanfield on the final lap, sparking a furious rant from the Dane, and a near disqualification for his team.

Denmark was leading comfortably in the heats of the men's team pursuit and looked certain to join Italy in the gold-medal match when disaster struck.

The Danes were coasting toward victory when they came up to lap Tanfield, who had been dropped by his GB teammates.

The riders were so focused on their own race that lead rider Madsen, unaware of Tanfield's position on the track, crashed into the back of the Team GB cyclist, sending both riders tumbling to the ground.

-BBC Sport (@BBCSport) August 3, 2021

Despite being at fault, the Danish cyclist was furious with Tanfield, yelling at the British rider while he lay on the floor after the crash. As he walked away, Madsen could be heard shouting "f--- them!"

Team pursuit is judged by taking the time of the third and final rider, but as neither team achieved that thanks to the crash, there was confusion as to who would progress to the gold-medal race.

There was speculation that Denmark would be disqualified for causing the crash, but it was later confirmed that it would be the Danish team making its way to the final.

-UCI Track Cycling (@UCI_Track) August 3, 2021

Denmark is set to face off against Italy in the event's final on Wednesday.