British Cycling’s reboot was somewhat derailed by the latest revelations in Parliament but its 39-point plan should draw a line under the era between the Athens and Rio Olympics
The press briefing on Thursday morning by the British Cycling chairman, Jonathan Browning, and the UK Sport chief executive, Liz Nicholl, at British Cycling’s headquarters in Manchester should have been all about the governing body’s 39-point plan to revamp its culture and management. This appeared to have been planned as a pre-emptive strike against revelations in the much delayed Phelps report into the culture within the Olympic team prompted by the scandal last spring involving allegations of sexism made by the sprinter Jess Varnish.
The agenda was immediately transformed, however, by the dramatic revelations in parliament on Wednesday around the UK Anti-Doping inquiry into “Jiffy-bag-gate”, the vexed question of the most discussed package in recent cycling history. Browning and Nicholl had to divert from script most likely in the knowledge that any chance of news‑managing the Phelps report had been overtaken by “events”.
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