Shane Sutton has always protested his innocence in the face of allegations of sexism within British Cycling but did admit he told track sprinter Jess Varnish, above, to ‘lose some timber’.
British Cycling’s former technical director Shane Sutton has staunchly denied he ever told track sprinter Jess Varnish to “move on and go and have a baby” after she was dropped from the Olympic programme.
However, the 59-year old former pro did admit he told her she needed to “lose some timber”.
In an interview with Sky Sports yesterday, Sutton was incredulous how an investigation by the British Cycling Federation upheld claims made by Varnish that he made discriminate and sexist remarks about her.
The allegations by Varnish emerged in April after she was dropped by the federation for the Rio Olympics.
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British Cycling reaches damning verdict against Sutton
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Sutton reacts to damning British Cycling sexism allegations
Among Varnish’s complaints were comments about her weight and she alleged that Sutton had said her ‘ass’ was too big to ever change position and ride as 'woman two' in the team sprint.
Sutton has always protested his innocence; “I’m going to continue to repeat what I’ve said from day one, that conversation [about going and having a baby] has never taken place,” he said.
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“If Jess can produce where the conversation took place, who was there at the time – and I believe it was only me and her – so I’m trying to understand how they’ve arrived at that decision given it’s her word against mine.”
“The weight conversation definitely happened,” admitted Sutton, “but it never happened in the terms it has been described in the press.”
“I can visualise the conversation vividly. The coaches and dietitians had sat Jess down and said ‘you really need to lose some weight’.
“Jess was very confused because at one point she thought the coaches were saying ‘we need you to get bigger, you need more power'.
“She asked me for my personal opinion and I said, ‘Do you want the technical director’s opinion or the personal opinion?’
“My exact words were: ‘Personally, you’re not a rolling mass, you’re not trying to jump off the top of the track here, it's a standing start and we're looking to qualify for the Games in team sprint', and I said 'you need to lose some timber’. Those were my exact words.
“I like to tell the truth, and it could be to my detriment at the times. But the truth is I’m not a sexist, and that’s the thing that has really hurt me in all of this.”
Varnish was axed from the Rio programme in April and British Cycling said it was due to her performances over the previous three years.
The former, however, said it was related to comments she had made in interviews at the 2015 UCI world track championships which were critical of the selections that had been made for the women's team sprint squad in their qualifying campaign for this year’s Olympics, which was ultimately unsuccessful.
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