Shane Sutton, the Great Britain cycling team head coach, has stepped aside from his role as head coach at Team Sky to take on a consultancy role alongside his GB commitments. British Cycling dismissed reports that he would also be stepping aside from his role with Great Britain.
Sutton's shift means he will now operate in "a support role alongside [team principal] Dave [Brailsford] as an adviser and a troubleshooter", a statement from the Australian on the Team Sky website said, adding: "If there is an issue that the team has identified or an area that needs exploring then Dave will be able to bring me in and we can take a look at it."
A Team Sky statement said: "Despite stepping back from a day-to-day role within the team, Sutton's knowledge and experience will still be influential to Team Sky as they look to defend their status as No1 team in the world."
Sutton has recently been recovering from a head injury sustained in a crash while out on his bike in early November, but spent much of December in Australia at a training camp with the Great Britain sprinters. The move comes as Sky continue to shuffle their team management after directeur sportif Steven de Jongh and race coach Bobby Julich resigned their positions as the team re-examined its zero-tolerance anti-doping policy. Both De Jongh and Julich confessed to having used drugs in their racing careers. The lead directeur sportif Sean Yates also left at the end of the season citing health and family reasons. The team have brought in the former Great Britain team pursuit coach Dan Hunt as a directeur sportif.
Sutton's move coincides with a promotion for the team's race coach Rod Ellingworth to the position of performance manager, overseeing the team's directeur sportifs and race coaches. Ellingworth coaches several of the team's riders – mainly the British contingent who have come through his academy – on a personal basis, although he has ceased working with Mark Cavendish now that the 2011 world champion has left the team.
Sutton had played a central role in Bradley Wiggins's 2012 Tour de France victory, operating as a personal coach to the Londoner alongside another Australian, Tim Kerrison from the end of 2010 – it is unclear at present whether he is to continue in that capacity as it seems he is to forgo day-to-day coaching within Sky – but in any case his responsibilities within Sky itself have fluctuated depending on his commitments with Great Britain.
Having worked closely with Brailsford in Team Sky's formative stages in 2009, he was brought into the heart of the set-up midway through the team's first year in competition, 2010, when the departure of the senior directeur sportif Scott Sunderland left the team looking rudderless. In 2012 he spent comparatively little time with Sky due to the need to prepare the Great Britain track squad for the London Olympics.
Sutton was not available for comment on Friday night.
