SUTTON JOINS CHINA’S TEAM
Controversial coach back in cycling
SHANE SUTTON will return to the home of British Cycling next month — but in his new role with the China national cycling team.
Sutton quit his position as the technical director of British Cycling in a storm of controversy last year after being suspended amid claims of bullying and discrimination by former rider Jess Varnish.
But Sutton’s expertise as the man who masterminded much of the success enjoyed by the British track team at the last three Olympic Games has remained very much in demand and yesterday he signed a contract with the Chinese Cycling Association in Beijing.
Sutton will be part of the team that arrives at the National Cycling Centre in Manchester, where the British track team are based and where he had an office, for the UCI Track Cycling World Cup from November 10-12. Since leaving his post last year Sutton is understood to have considered several options, with the Australian and French federations among those he spoke to.
But after being invited to guide China’s track cyclists at the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2020, talks with the federation have ended with the 59-year-old Australian taking the role. On the track in Rio the Chinese secured just one medal, ironically in the women’s team sprint — the event for which Varnish failed to qualify before publicly blaming the coaches, losing her place on the Podium programme and making her allegations against Sutton.
An internal investigation upheld one of the nine complaints against Sutton — a use of discriminatory language for referring to female riders as ‘bitches’. Sutton did not deny using the term but defended himself by explaining the context in which he had said it. He has always denied the other allegations.
An independent report into the culture of British Cycling nevertheless concluded in June this year that ‘a culture of fear’ existed at the organisation.
But references in a leaked draft report to bullying and accusations that the original investigation had been sanitised by the British Cycling board were removed from the final version. The report stated Varnish was not removed from the Podium programme as ‘an act of retribution’. It did ‘not view her removal as an act of discrimination . . . but in the panel’s view at the very least it did not follow contractual due process’.
Varnish continues to contest that view as she considers whether she will return to elite track cycling.