British Cycling’s Bob Howden "has denied that his decision to step aside" as chair to allow non-exec director Jonathan Browning "to take over has anything to do with the ongoing controversies," saying he always "pushed for a better deal" for women’s cycling and could "hold his head high," according to Tom Cary of the London TELEGRAPH. Howden "will stay on as president of cycling’s national governing body but has ‘stepped aside’" to allow Browning -- a former chair of Vauxhall and managing director of Jaguar Cars who was also CEO of Volkswagen Group of America for three years from '10 -- "to take over as the new independent chairman of the board." British Cycling has been "embroiled in scandal for the last 12 months or so, with allegations of sexism, bullying and discrimination." Howden has stepped aside, saying it became clear that doing both roles was “more than a one-man job” (TELEGRAPH, 2/9). The PA reported prepared by a five-person panel led by British Rowing Chair Annamarie Phelps, the independent review’s report was scheduled for publication next week -- already three months later than first planned -- but its contents "have provoked considerable alarm within British Cycling and UK Sport, the elite funding agency that co-commissioned and co-funded it."
Browning confirmed the governing body’s board "has now met to discuss the independent review’s report three times and it is understood the boards of both British Cycling and UK Sport spoke on Wednesday about how best to proceed" (PA, 2/9).
NO FEAR: Also in London, Ben Rumsby reported the coach who transformed Great Britain's women's endurance team into Olympic champions has told an independent review there was no "culture of fear" at British Cycling during his time there. Dan Hunt revealed he had "given evidence to the panel investigating allegations of bullying and discrimination within the sport," insisting he saw no such behavior while working under David Brailsford. Hunt, who was at British Cycling for eight years before joining Team Sky in '13, also told the panel former Technical Dir Shane Sutton was not sexist but acknowledged his "choice of vocabulary" may have been "poor" on occasion (TELEGRAPH, 2/8).
