Such has been the level of success of the Great Britain track cyclists here at the Laoshan Velodrome that when a gold medal goes astray, it is perceived as a blunder. When it involves stars such as Bradley Wiggins, who had already won two golds and was gunning for his third, partnered with Mark Cavendish, who last month won four stages of the Tour de France, it seemed far worse.

Wiggins and Cavendish contributed to this perception by coming off the track after the Madison race and exiting the paddock of the velodrome without exchanging a word with each other. The distinct disappointment written across Cavendish's face was impossible to misread. They had both made it abundantly clear that nothing less than gold would suffice. However, the pair finished ninth, with gold going to Argentina, with Spain next and then Russia.

While Wiggins and Cavendish failed to win a medal, the real surprise was that they did not even mount a serious challenge, attacking twice, but failing to make a significant breakaway from the peloton. Cavendish seemed to have the speed in his legs but his form was not matched by Wiggins, who had won the individual pursuit on Saturday and then been part of two world record-breaking performances with the team pursuit on Sunday and Monday.

“The harsh reality was that Brad was tired from the events he'd had already,” David Brailsford, the British Cycling performance director, said. “It was a real fast pace, a hard, hard race. And Cav was in great shape. They did their best and that was it. They're both great riders.”

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For Cavendish, this outcome was clearly hard to take, especially because he was the only member of the track cycling team to leave without a medal. Wiggins, meanwhile, will have to live with the “harsh reality” - that although he leaves Beijing a star and a double gold medal-winner, at the final reckoning, he let his partner down.