Varnish calls for cycling chiefs to quit

had chosen to “throw me under the bus” to protect the sport’s image rather than confront “the truth”.

Varnish also said Shane Sutton, the coach she accused of bullying her and telling her to “go and have a baby” to spark a year-long review into the governing body, should not work in cycling coaching again. These allegations were denied by Sutton and rejected by the internal investigation.

Responding to the leaking of the draft report, the authors of which last night warned was not the final version and could yet be altered, Varnish said she was “not surprised” at its findings and never had faith in an internal investigation that found Sutton guilty of one charge of using “inappropriate and discriminatory language” but cleared him of eight more. The independent review, jointly set up by UK Sport and British Cycling, accused the latter’s directors of “reversing” the initial findings of its grievance officer, female board member Alex Russell, to suit its own agenda.

Speaking to the BBC, a “relieved” and “vindicated” Varnish said: “Obviously, my story is the truth and it’s been exactly the same throughout, but I feel like I have just been pulled from pillar to post.

“One minute, they’re saying the board are saying that they believe me; the next minute, I’m receiving a letter and a knock at the door saying it’s reversed. Just to get this and see that it’s a cover-up is huge.

“I had absolutely no faith in the investigation from the get-go.”