VARNISH GETS SHOT AT SHOCK RETURN
BRITISH CYCLING have offered a route back for Jess Varnish to make a sensational return to the team — 18 months after she rocked the sport with claims of bullying and sexism.
Earlier this month the performance team finally agreed to provide Varnish and her representatives with the standards she would need to achieve to be in contention for a place back on the programme.
Whether Varnish chooses to return to track racing remains to be seen but the former world silver medallist is only 26 so time remains on her side.
And according to sources, the standards quoted by the British Cycling performance team are no higher than those she was achieving prior to her removal from the podium programme. In April last year Varnish responded to being dropped by claiming to Sports
mail that she was the victim of sexism and discrimination.
She insisted the real reason for her departure was her public criticism of coaching staff after she and Katy Marchant failed to qualify for the team sprint at the Rio Olympics.
Her allegations led to the suspension and subsequent resignation of performance director Shane Sutton, with British Cycling publicly apologising to Varnish and announcing a review of their coaching practices and rider care procedures.
But the governing body maintain the decision to axe Varnish was based on performance alone, even though there remains a legal dispute over the release of the personal performance data used to terminate her contract. A request by Varnish and herr advisers for a trial race against female sprinters who remained on the programme was also rejected last year. She was told such trials were not staged.
The ongoing row over the data, however, leaves Varnish unsure as to exactly how much the organisation has changed despite the review of practices she sparked as a whistle-blower.