Shane Sutton has admitted there is now “no way back” for him at British Cycling with the board of directors having upheld Jess Varnish’s allegation that "he used inappropriate and discriminatory language towards her," according to Tom Cary of the London TELEGRAPH. On Saturday, Sutton said that he "was already in talks with a rival nation." However, the former technical director of cycling’s national governing body has "not ruled out launching an appeal or even taking legal action in an effort to clear his name," saying that he has already requested to see the supporting evidence presented to the board on Friday following the six-month long internal investigation as he remained “100 percent” confident that he did nothing wrong. Speaking for the first time since the statement released by British Cycling on Friday afternoon, a statement in which the governing body expressed “sincere regret” for Varnish’s mistreatment and which effectively brought the curtain down on Sutton’s 14-year career in Manchester, the Australian said that he was “devastated” by the outcome of the investigation. Sutton: "I’m massively disappointed. I put my trust in [the investigation]. I have gone back to them now and asked for the supporting evidence to try to understand how they have arrived at this conclusion." Sutton insisted Varnish's axing was “purely for performance reasons” rather than payback for her strident criticism of Great Britain coaches at the track world championships the previous month (TELEGRAPH, 10/29).
