‘BULLY’ SUTTON ALSO A WINNER
Maverick coach divides British cycling
JESS VARNISH’S allegations of bullying and sexism at the hands of British Cycling chief Shane Sutton have thrown into the spotlight a man who does not crave attention.
Unlike his predecessor Sir Dave Brailsford, Sutton is not the celebrity face of British Cycling. To the man on the street he is an unknown and likes it that way, preferring to let the world-class cyclists under his tutelage enjoy the plaudits.
But Varnish’s potentially devastating claims made to Sportsmail — including that Sutton told her to ‘move on and go and have a baby’ after ending her Olympic dream and that he said her ‘ass’ was ‘too big’ to ride certain roles on the team — have placed him at the centre of an imbroglio, although Sutton wholeheartedly denies any wrongdoing.
British Cycling are quite rightly taking Varnish’s claims very seriously. An independent staff member will have a meeting with her to discuss the allegations and the governing body’s board will then almost certainly call Sutton before them.
But they might find building a picture of the 58-year-old a confusing process. For every rider who says they are not surprised by Varnish’s claims, that Sutton made their lives a misery, there is another who says he is a tactical genius and the very reason for their success.
When attempting to describe his coaching methods Sutton once compared himself to an orchestra conductor. If that is the case, not everyone is singing from the same hymn sheet.
Wendy Houvenaghel, a multiple World, Olympic and Commonwealth medallist, told Sportsmail she found Sutton to be a ‘narcissistic little bully’. The Northern Irishwoman said: ‘What’s happening to Jess comes as no surprise to me and it’s very upsetting to read about. I’ve not experienced any personal comments about my physique, I just feel Shane Sutton specifically treats women in quite a disrespectful way, he’s a narcissistic little bully.’
Houvenaghel, 41, spent a decade working with British Cycling but was aggrieved at being an unused reserve at London 2012, robbing her of a chance of a gold medal.
‘I started to experience bullying and ageism at the start of 2012,’ she said. ‘Things like not being included in certain training efforts and the general attitude towards me in the team changed. It was as if there had been a talk with the younger riders and I was being left out of the unit.
‘The team broke the world record at London 2012 but one of the riders was sick. I was promised I’d be used as a reserve but never was, so Shane lied to me. We were also going quicker than that world record in training when I was riding.’
Sutton came to the UK from Australia to ride the professional circuit iin the late 1980s and rode the Tour de France in 1987. Previously the head of Welsh Cycling, until the Beijing Olympics in 2008 he was Brailsford’s No 2 in British Cycling but assumed an even more prominent role in the approach to London 2012. When Brailsford left to take charge at Team Sky, Sutton took the helm in 2014.
While his relationship with certain riders — Rebecca Romero, Victoria Pendleton, Nicole Cooke and Houvenaghel to name a few — has been troubled, there are apparently some current track cyclists ready to come out in public support of Sutton.
Olympic gold medallist Dani King said that, while she was very sorry to hear of Varnish’s plight, she had never experienced sexist comments directed at her.
Olympic team pursuit gold medallist Joanna Rowsell Shand insisted the women’s and men’s endurance squads were treated equally.
‘I was surprised by the comments,’ she said. ‘I’ve always thought as a track rider it’s very equal. Compared to the men’s team pursuit squad, we definitely get equal treatment.’
Those who know Sutton well say his coaching abilities are peerless, even if his man — or perhaps more pertinently, woman — management skills leave something to be desired. One cycling expert described him as a maverick, who knows the sport better than almost anyone in the world, so tactically astute that he knows how a bike race is going to unfold before it even happens.
In 2009, Sir Chris Hoy described Sutton as his mentor. He wrote in The Guardian: ‘In lots of ways he’s frustrating to work with but ultimately he wants you to get faster and, as long as you are giving 100 per cent and are committed, he’s happy.
‘At the same time, he’s so intense that there are times the only thing you can do is fall out with him. Half the time you want to throttle the guy and the other half you are trying to get into his good books.’
On more than one occasion his abrasive management style has been compared to Sir Alex Ferguson, but whether Sutton has the staying power of the former Manchester United boss remains to be seen.