Jess Varnish, left, criticised British Cycling and made claims of sexism after she was dropped from the Olympic programme. It has since emerged that athletes in the system have been warned to keep quiet.
By Brian Canty
British Cycling has suffered a fresh setback after it emerged riders in its high performance system have been told that how they respond to questioning from journalists “will be a big factor in our ability to support you as the current season unfolds."
In a leaked email, which The Times newspaper managed to get hold of, new technical director Andy Harrison effectively told riders and staff that if they valued their place in the system.
“You will all be aware that we've had a bad week. I wanted to let you know where we are – and as many of you will be in a public and media environment this weekend, it is likely you will be asked to comment," the email published by The Times reads.
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"You are free to say yes or no to interviews, but how you respond will be a big factor in our ability to support you as the current season unfolds."
Andy Harrison is now leading the high performance effort and has been forced to backtrack from a controversial email.
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They were to respond to questions with a stock answer Harrison help prepare.
Athletes were given a template answer which read: “The specific allegations that have been circulating in the media over the past week are extremely serious and I'm pleased to see that British Cycling and UK Sport are launching a full enquiry.
“I'm confident that they will get to the bottom of these allegations and that British Cycling will emerge stronger as a result.”
The email was sent on April 29th and Harrison sent another later that day clarifying the tone of the first message.
The second email read: "I want to apologise if the first line of the email is misleading. The intention of the sentence was to highlight that I want my (and the staff's) time to be focused upon supporting you.
"I apologise if this genuine sentiment has been lost in a poorly constructed sentence."
The controversies have come thick and fast for British Cycling in recent weeks.
Former technical director Shane Sutton stepped down in the wake of a sexism storm and allegations he referred to paracyclists as ‘gimps and wobblies’
And there has also been controversy about how official British Cycling kits and bikes were sold online.
In an unrelated development, Orica-GreenEDGE rider Simon Yates’ positive test for the asthma medication Terbutaline with the team owned Gerry Ryan accusing British Cycling of leaking news of the test.
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