The man who has seemed such an authoritative presence at the head of Team Sky now looks like a malfunctioning robot having made a number of bad decisionsEarly on a July morning in 2012 a small figure in black cycling kit left the village of Vielha, on the Spanish side of the Pyrenees, and set off along the quiet two‑lane road towards the Col du Portillon, a winding tree-lined climb leading to the French border.The kit was that of Team Sky, but beneath the helmet and the sunglasses it was impossible to identify the rider, only to envy him the imminent experience of a picturesque climb. Just under five miles long, with gradients averaging 6.8%, the 4,200ft Portillon has occasionally...
Shane Sutton and David Brailsford’s appearances in front of the culture, media and sport committee sparked so many flashbacks to my frustration in trying to deal with British CyclingThe reputations of British Cycling, Team Sky, Bradley Wiggins and, by association, every contemporary British cyclist were all on the line in front of the culture, media and sport committee before Christmas. I felt for the MPs. They kept asking a very simple question: “Can you tell us what was in the Jiffy bag?”Time and again, as they sought to drag out answers, the MPs summed up the verbiage with a succinct response: “I am not sure whether that was a yes or a no.” I had so many flashbacks during those...
Culture committee questions transparency in UK cycling after facing uphill climb to tease out facts about the most infamous Jiffy bag in the sportFor three hours in the Thatcher room in Portcullis House the air had all the ease of a dentist’s surgery as the committee for culture, media and sport slowly prised, like recalcitrant teeth, a series of facts from Sir Dave Brailsford, Shane Sutton and the British Cycling chairman, Bob Howden, about the most infamous Jiffy bag in cycling, an envelope delivered to Dr Richard Freeman at the Critérium du Dauphiné in 2011 that has come to symbolise Team Sky and British Cycling’s lack of transparency.The governing body and its offshoot professional team live by process; the session...
Sir Dave Brailsford and Shane Sutton will appear before MPs on the culture, media and sport select committee on Monday. What should they be asked?Back when Team Sky was in utero, Sir Dave Brailsford made a startling statement of intent. “People come into professional cycling and compromise,” he told the Guardian in 2009. “We can’t compromise.” He was discussing specifically why he was avoiding riders associated with doping, but his words carried a deeper message: others might sprint into grey and black to be successful but Sky’s aim was to be straight as well as successful.There was always a contrast between the public projection of the Sky image – marginal gains, no stone left unturned, glory upon glory – and the...
There was much to feel good about in Manchester on Monday but the questions faced by cycling – the sport that most embodies the great British medal rush – after recent revelations continue to dampen the moodBritain’s triumphant Olympians and Paralympians partied beneath sunny skies as they deservedly took the acclaim of the crowds in Trafalgar Square.But during the first leg of their 48‑hour victory lap on Monday, it was not just the traditional Manchester weather that threatened to rain on Team GB’s parade but the bad vibes emanating from the structure in the east of the city that up to now has been championed as the symbol of all that is good about the great National Lottery-fuelled charge up...