PUNCTURED!
Coach Sutton quits after bullying and sexism claims British Cycling to probe sale of GB kits on ebay As £10,000 team bikes go missing, who’s cashing in? THEY THINK IT’S SAUL OVER FOR PEP
Shane Sutton resigned as British Cycling chief yesterday following allegations of bullying, sexism and claims that he referred to para- cyclists as ‘gimps’ and ‘wobblies’.
It came on the day that UK Sport demanded an investigation into claims that official team GB performance kit was being sold online for profit.
there are also suggestions that stateof-the-art road bikes — no longer used in competition or training by British Cycling after a change of sponsorship 12 months ago — have gone missing. these cost up to £10,000 and were purchased with national Lottery money.
Both issues will be scrutinised by an independent probe into what appears to be chaotic mis-management at the heart of one of the key olympic sports. Cycling has received £30.5million in funding from UK Sport in the run-up to the Rio olympics.
Sportsmail also understands that Sutton, who was being paid a six-figure salary by British Cycling as their technical director, is receiving a retainer worth thousands of pounds a month from team Sky, despite having stepped down as their head coach in 2013.
australian Sutton, 58, leaves his role after sprint cyclist Jess Varnish alleged to Sportsmail that he told her to ‘go and have a baby’ after axing her from the olympic programme, while Paralympic champion Darren Kenny said Sutton used insulting terms for para-cyclists.
Sutton denies the allegations. he said in a statement: ‘the developments over the past few days have clearly become a
distraction. It is for this reason that I believe it is in the best interests of British Cycling for me to step down. ‘I reject the specific claims that have been made against me in recent days and I look forward to taking a full part in the review process so I can respond to the allegations in detail.’ Andy Harrison, formerly programmes director at British Cycling, has taken over the technical director role with immediate effect and will lead the team in the build-up to Rio 2016. British Cycling chief executive Ian Drake said Sutton’s resignation would ‘hopefully’ not derail the sport’s medal charge. He told the BBC: ‘We have to get the independent review right and there is no point having a system where people feel they are not in a supportive environment. We need to build a system which will continue achieving success in the future.’ British cyclists topped the Olympic and Paralympic medal tables at London 2012. But outside the elite programme, focus will remain on the probe into alleged sexism, other discriminatory behaviour as well as an internal probe into Team GB kit being sold online and the mystery of the missing bikes. A UK Sport spokesman said: ‘We have asked British Cycling to investigate as a matter of urgency because it is vital we protect our investment.’ A Team Sky spokesman said: ‘Shane has maintained an involvement in the team since stepping down as head coach in January 2013. We do not release details of the salaries of anyone employed by, or previously employed by, Team Sky.’