Britain's new golden couple rocked by his World Championships expulsion: How world's fastest female cyclist kept boyfriend's defection secret - but now he's flying home in 'misconduct' storm over his behaviour

They were on course to become British cycling's most celebrated couple since Jason and Laura Kenny, who won 12 Olympic gold medals. 

But now the sport's golden duo - Emma Finucane and Matthew Richardson - has been rocked after the latter was sent home from the World Track Cycling Championships in Shanghai amid allegations of misconduct.

Richardson, 27, has been in a relationship with Finucane, the 23-year-old darling of British cycling, since February 2024. He once boasted that he was the 'fastest ever' racer - she revels in being the 'world's fastest female cyclist' after setting a record 200m sprint time in February. 

They have stood together through multiple challenges, including Finucane keeping his secret about his defection from Australia for months in advance that year.

But now the duo must navigate another high-profile controversy. 

The Times first reported how his behaviour towards team-mates is being investigated following a complaint. One rider who spoke to the publication said Richardson would not moderate his behaviour even when engaging with athletes from minority backgrounds.

Richardson was seen as an almost certainty to win a medal, and was one of the stars of British Cycling's media coverage in the build-up to the championships, but was absent from training on Monday ahead of his exit.  

It is believed that he and Finucane, who both love Formula One, met at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in 2022. 

Richardson recalled seeing her on track as she raced to bronze when she was just 18, later telling The Telegraph: 'I was like, "Oh s---, here we go. She is going to be a star".'

They became friends at first, and would regularly see each other at various events across Europe as they competed in the International Cycling Union’s Champions League.

But things became more serious in 2024, when Finucane arrived to train in Adelaide – where Richardson lived – ahead of the Nations Cup. Richardson was born and raised in Kent, but moved to Australia with his family aged nine, and had relocated to Adelaide in 2019.

'I was like, hey, we’re in the same place now,' Richardson told The Times. 'So we’d just hang out a bit more and hang out a bit more, and it was fun.

'We were keeping it pretty chill because we knew that we both had big things on the horizon, so we didn’t want to put on too much pressure.'

At the back of Richardson's mind, though, was his grand plan to defect to Team GB. He harboured a sentimental ambition of competing for his country of birth.

'I grew up watching Chris Hoy race on the TV,' Richardson said. 'Whenever I’ve raced in the UK, it felt as though I was racing in front of a home crowd. It made me think: "What would this feel like if I was racing for Great Britain?" That’s something I want to find out. I want to chase that feeling.' 

And so he flew Finucane out to Singapore, where his father lives, to tell her of his secret plot. The pair were only in the first stages of their romance – they were keeping in touch via Snapchat and navigating a big time zone difference, with Finucane based in Manchester – but Richardson was ready to entrust her with an explosive truth. 

If Finucane had spilled the news of his planned defection, there is no doubt it would have seen him expelled from the Australian team for the Paris Olympics.

'I just wanted to help him and it was quite easy [to keep the secret] as it never came up in conversation with other people,' Finucane told The Guardian.

'I kept it to myself and we stuck to our Olympic focus.'

Richardson and Finucane now live together in Manchester, where they both enjoy cooking and heading into the velodrome to train, and it is just as well they are side-by-side to support each other. 

They are both motivational forces for one another, and Finucane has been able to support him through the fallout after his bombshell exit from Australia in 2024. 

Overnight, Richardson went from Aussie hero to public enemy No1 by announcing he would be racing for Great Britain.

He represented Australia until August 2024, competing as a track cyclist in the men's keirin, individual sprint and team sprint at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, where the Australians finished fourth.

At the 2024 Paris Olympics, he secured two silver medals in the men's keirin and sprint, and a bronze in the men's team sprint.

He then shocked Australians by announcing his decision to switch nationalities and compete for Great Britain, citing personal reasons and a desire to chase new dreams.

AusCycling banned Richardson for life from representing Australia, citing his conduct before defecting, including withholding information about his switch and requesting to take AusCycling property to Great Britain.

It was a painful period for the rider, who suffered his fair share of abuse on social media. The episode stung Australia, too, after they had invested upwards of $1million in his development. 

'I think the attention on me has been pretty unfair, I am not the first to ride for another country after representing Australia but because of my success, I was more high-profile,' Richardson told the i Paper.

'I am so thankful to AusCycling for their support when I was riding for them. I have never attacked them and only spoken about them positively.

'This is not about having a future that I did not have in the Adelaide programme as I am happy with what I have achieved.

'But there is not a single thing that makes me doubt my decision, this is something I have wanted to do since I started racing.'

Richardson called his team-mates individually – receiving varying responses from them – and made clear in his statement how much of a 'dream' it was for him to ride for Team GB. 

The Aussies were still rather salty in their statement, saying: 'The announcement of Matt’s switch is disappointing and came as a surprise.' Relations have never been the same since. 

He will feel it is worth it, though, after finding love with Finucane in England. Together they go on hikes, rock up at events such as Wimbledon, and of course enjoy their fair share of bike rides. 

Finucane was a very sporty kid, having tried out running, swimming, netball and gymnastics, but was racing bikes by the age of eight. Highly disciplined, she grew up on an army base in south Wales. 

'For me, it was really easy to see quickly: if you want to be good at this, you need to do this,' she told The Times of her military discipline. 

'You can’t go out partying every night - well, you can, but if you want to come into training hungover the next day, your performance isn’t going to be great and then you’ll be off the programme. I didn’t feel I missed out on anything, because I was actually fine with it.'

Richardson, meanwhile, has been making the most of his growing celebrity profile in the United Kingdom, though his Instagram account with more than 62,000 followers is now set to private.  

It remains to be seen what the future holds for Richardson. Ahead of Shanghai, he had to recover from a brutal injury sustained in the Keirin World Series in July. 

Richardson said he is 'lucky' to be walking after being wiped out by a rival in an incident, which ruled him out of the Commonwealth Games three months ago.

He had been slammed off the track by Japanese cyclist Kento Suzuki while competing in the event, leaving the velodrome in an ambulance.

Richardson said he has not received an apology from Suzuki over the incident – and his old Australia team-mates mocked him.

He was favourite to win gold in Glasgow but never got to take part after the horrifying crash. He was unable to walk for four days after coming away with a broken scapula and a heavily bruised hip. 

Only with time will the details surrounding his expulsion from Shanghai come to light.

In a statement sent to Daily Mail Sport, a British Cycling spokesperson said: '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.'

When approached by Daily Mail Sport about the misconduct allegations which are believed to have prompted Richardson's withdrawal, the organisation added that they would not be commenting further at this stage.

British Cycling added to The Times: ‘British Cycling takes any allegations of harassment, bullying or discrimination extremely seriously.

'Where concerns are raised, they are investigated thoroughly through our established procedures.

'Out of fairness to anyone involved in an investigation, we would not comment on any ongoing process.’