Retired riders Victoria Pendleton and Nicole Cooke have both claimed that there is sexism within British Cycling. The remarks come days after Jess Varnish made allegations relating to her treatment at the hands of the national federation. British Cycling has denied the allegations but has stated that they will seek talks with Varnish.
Pendleton, who retired on the back of the London 2012 Games, rode with Varnish in the women’s team pursuit and leapt to the defence of her former teammate in an emotional interview with The Telegraph’s Tom Carey.
“I have never spoken out before. But I have to do it now. I would not be able to live with myself if I sat back and let people try to discredit [Varnish’s] character. Not when I wholeheartedly believe her. My experiences [at British Cycling] were very similar. And I know exactly how miserable they made me,” she told the British newspaper.
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Varnish’s allegations over sexism centre around two main claims. First, that she was told by a British coach that ‘with an ass like mine I couldn't change position within the team sprint’. Upon being dropped from the Olympic track programme, she also states, according to the Daily Mail, that she was told to ‘move on and go and have a baby’ by Shane Sutton. Both the coach and British Cycling deny that such a comment was made and that Varnish was dropped for performance reasons. British Cycling deny that the rider’s contract was not renewed because she spoke out over the management of the track programme during the World Championships in March.
“Of course they’ll say, ‘Oh it’s just sour grapes’ and, ‘Get over it, we get results’,” Pendleton added.
According to the multiple Olympic medallist, the culture within British Cycling was dominated by men and she pointed to a lack of female representation at management level as part of the issue.
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