Emma Pooley, the Olympic silver medallist, has accused Sir Dave Brailsford of allegedly overseeing a culture of fear at British Cycling.
Last week a draft review into the culture of British Cycling, where Brailsford spent 10 years as the performance director, found an internal investigation into the track cyclist Jess Varnish’s dismissal, as well as her allegations of sexism, had been covered up.
Varnish has already called for the resignation of the entire board, including the new chairman Jonathan Browning, who replaced Bob Howden as the chairman last month but was a nonexecutive director on British Cycling’s board from April 2014 onwards.
“A fish rots from the head,” Pooley, who represented Great Britain at three Olympic Games and won time-trial silver at Beijing 2008, told The Times. “The report is pretty shocking. But when people criticise, they need to think back to who is providing the leadership and not tar everyone with the same brush. Rather than blaming everyone, people need to look at who was setting that culture. It doesn’t mean that everyone in British Cycling is flawed like that.”
Brailsford said last week he has no intention of leaving his post at Team Sky despite the scrutiny over the mystery package delivered to Sir Bradley Wiggins at the 2011 Critérium du Dauphiné.
On Sunday, the 53-year-old watched Colombia’s Sergio Henao win the Paris-Nice race but declined to comment on the investigations. “I’ve come here to watch the race – I’m only engaging with the race,” he said.
Chris Froome has still to support of his team principal, with the three-times Tour de France winner tweeting a picture of him watching one of the early season’s most prestigious races.
“Trying to get home but keep getting held up by #parisnice2017 Can I just join in? #training,” he wrote.
Trying to get home but keep getting held up by #parisnice2017 Can I just join in? 🤷♂️😂 #training 🚲💨@ParisNice #ParisNice pic.twitter.com/5AZLiy8rLP
— Chris Froome (@chrisfroome) March 12, 2017
