British Cylcing supposedly in turmoil.

patricks148

patricks148

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what does anyone else make of this?

calls by one former athlete for the whole board to go and of inherent sexism.

With British Cycling at its strongest ever, is this likely?

once upon a time we couldn't afford to send riders to events let alone win gold medals.

One coach Shane Sutton having resigned, i rode against him back in the 90,s and he was known as a hardman and def called a spade a spade.

BBC had a bit on it this morning and for some reason interviewed an Australian former Commonwealth games winner, about Brittish cycling!!!
 
I'm very uncomfortable with the BBC approach on this. Professional cycling is tough, very tough. You have to push to the limits and be pushed to the limits to succeed and let's face it UK cycling has gone from nothing to the best in the world. They have got something very right. This looks like someone who psychologically could not handle being pushed and perhaps just isn't up to that side of being an elite athlete. If you want a hug and a cuddle then you are in the wrong game. Count the medals.
 
rulefan said:
Yes. When did we last have a world champion? Norman Sheil?
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Have you been living in a bubble? British cycling is phenomenally successful. On the road, on the track. World championships, Olympics. We are top of the world pile. Other sports are copying what British cycling have done. It would be crazy to pull that apart.
 
Lord Tyrion said:
I'm very uncomfortable with the BBC approach on this. Professional cycling is tough, very tough. You have to push to the limits and be pushed to the limits to succeed and let's face it UK cycling has gone from nothing to the best in the world. They have got something very right. This looks like someone who psychologically could not handle being pushed and perhaps just isn't up to that side of being an elite athlete. If you want a hug and a cuddle then you are in the wrong game. Count the medals.
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yep Cycling is very well funded and because of that they have seen the results, this could put that success in danger
 
Lord Tyrion said:
I'm very uncomfortable with the BBC approach on this. Professional cycling is tough, very tough. You have to push to the limits and be pushed to the limits to succeed and let's face it UK cycling has gone from nothing to the best in the world. They have got something very right. This looks like someone who psychologically could not handle being pushed and perhaps just isn't up to that side of being an elite athlete. If you want a hug and a cuddle then you are in the wrong game. Count the medals.
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..
Normally with u on most stuff man but ya may wana read up the story if you think the above , there seems to have been alot of bullying going on with the fear of toe the line or have your funding & place on the tem axed , a my way or the highway attitude by Brailsford (??) ok it got results i give you that & when your at the top in any sport there are alot of sacrifices but if that was an office boss doing that to achieve..?? would it be allowed ?

It seems from reading "some" stuff about it the top people were untouchable bullys who reigned through fear .. i could be wrong

But that cannot be allowed in any walk of life
 
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[FONT=&quot]Just copied and pasted a few extracts from the telegraph ( no idea of papers creditability or politics)
This cant be let go on

The independent review panel jointly set up by UK Sport and British Cycling accused the latter’s directors of “reversing” the initial findings of its grievance officer, female board member Alex Russell, to suit its own agenda.

[/FONT][FONT=&quot]Varnish was considering legal action against the beleaguered governing body following the revelations in a leaked draft copy of a damning report which found a “culture of fear and bullying” within the country’s so-called medal factory.

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[FONT=&quot]The independent panel found Varnish lost her funding “as an act of retaliation” for criticising coaching staff at last year’s track World Championships in London and was “removed” from the programme without warning.[/FONT]

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[FONT=&quot]
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[FONT=&quot]It also described former performance director Brailsford as “untouchable” and the leadership structure during his tenure as “dysfunctional[/FONT]

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Lord Tyrion said:
I'm very uncomfortable with the BBC approach on this. Professional cycling is tough, very tough. You have to push to the limits and be pushed to the limits to succeed and let's face it UK cycling has gone from nothing to the best in the world. They have got something very right. This looks like someone who psychologically could not handle being pushed and perhaps just isn't up to that side of being an elite athlete. If you want a hug and a cuddle then you are in the wrong game. Count the medals.
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I believe she handled it for 11 years quite well.

Its hard to make assumptions when there are many details still to come out,im sure in the future a lot more will be published and then we can make a more informed comment.
 
bladeplayer said:
..
Normally with u on most stuff man but ya may wana read up the story if you think the above , there seems to have been alot of bullying going on with the fear of toe the line or have your funding & place on the tem axed , a my way or the highway attitude by Brailsford (??) ok it got results i give you that & when your at the top in any sport there are alot of sacrifices but if that was an office boss doing that to achieve..?? would it be allowed ?

It seems from reading "some" stuff about it the top people were untouchable bullys who reigned through fear .. i could be wrong

But that cannot be allowed in any walk of life
Click to expand...

bladeplayer said:
[FONT="]Just copied and pasted a few extracts from the telegraph ( no idea of papers creditability or politics)
This cant be let go on

The independent review panel jointly set up by UK Sport and British Cycling accused the latter’s directors of “reversing” the initial findings of its grievance officer, female board member Alex Russell, to suit its own agenda.

[/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#333333][FONT="]Varnish was considering legal action against the beleaguered governing body following the revelations in a leaked draft copy of a damning report which found a “culture of fear and bullying” within the country’s so-called medal factory.

[/FONT][FONT="][INDENT=2][FONT="]The independent panel found Varnish lost her funding “as an act of retaliation” for criticising coaching staff at last year’s track World Championships in London and was “removed” from the programme without warning.[/FONT]

[/INDENT]
[/FONT]
[FONT="]
[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#333333][FONT="]
[FONT="]It also described former performance director Brailsford as “untouchable” and the leadership structure during his tenure as “dysfunctional[/FONT]

​
[/FONT]
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Agreed
The day we except getting medals and world and Olympic champions along with tour winners over treating people fairly is wrong wether its one person or 20.

DB has a lot of questions to answer lets hope in the future he does give an honest interview covering all topics.
 
I've no problem being wrong on this. My point is that I am not sure you can judge elite sport, all sports, in the same way as a regular job. People have to be pushed, it is a total results game. Bobbing along is not good enough. Clearly bullying is not acceptable but it's a fine line between pushing and getting the best out of someone and bullying. The coaches could have over stepped, the athlete could be more sensitive. Difficult to judge in the cold light of day but I think the ones to judge this are other, ex cyclists and current cyclists as they know what is needed.
 
Lord Tyrion said:
I've no problem being wrong on this. My point is that I am not sure you can judge elite sport, all sports, in the same way as a regular job. People have to be pushed, it is a total results game. Bobbing along is not good enough. Clearly bullying is not acceptable but it's a fine line between pushing and getting the best out of someone and bullying. The coaches could have over stepped, the athlete could be more sensitive. Difficult to judge in the cold light of day but I think the ones to judge this are other, ex cyclists and current cyclists as they know what is needed.
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Not much knowledge on it myself mate , quoting what im reading but im old enough not to believe all i read either ..

it is surprising Chris Froome (allegedely) had a chance to defend brailsford & his methods but declined to comment
 
patricks148 said:
i think we have had multiple WC in a fair few disciplines in the last few years.
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I was meaning in the years between Sheil (1950s) and the renaissance in the last few years.

Only four names come to mind from the last 60 years and three of those are Tour de France names
Tom Simpson, Barry Hoban, Robert Millar and Beryl Burton.
 
rulefan said:
I was meaning in the years between Sheil (1950s) and the renaissance in the last few years.

Only four names come to mind from the last 60 years and three of those are Tour de France names
Tom Simpson, Barry Hoban, Robert Millar and Beryl Burton.
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whats riders from the distant past got to do with the current set up??
 
Best just shut the whole shebang down and start all over after next Olympics... Reckon Ms Varnish won't be happy until this happens... Move the lottery funding back to the sports that have just had their funding taken away...
 
So we have a succesful sport that wins nearly everything it can, and we then moan they weren't very nice?
Do we not wonder why we have been successful now at cycling over most other sports, to a point where we have dominated cycling?
We have always applauded the plucky loser who "tried their best", well I for one am glad to see a British sport with some steel in their backbone, who is prepared to get tough and push the demands of the sportsperson.
So what if those in charge and doing the coaching have upset a few silver spooners, it's a result driven funding program and results count....coming second third or fourth gets you nothing.
 
patricks148 said:
yep Cycling is very well funded and because of that they have seen the results, this could put that success in danger
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Would anyone miss it though....seriously?
Apart from some vague interest every 4 years it hardly draws crowds. I for one wouldn't, don't care how many Olympic medals UK wins at it.
Way too specialist for most if us, especially velodrome stuff, but is bigged up only because of Olympic success, not because it's any good as a thing to view or be entertained by, this is where sport goes wrong.........imo.
 
maxfli65 said:
Would anyone miss it though....seriously?
Apart from some vague interest every 4 years it hardly draws crowds. I for one wouldn't, don't care how many Olympic medals UK wins at it.
Way too specialist for most if us, especially velodrome stuff, but is bigged up only because of Olympic success, not because it's any good as a thing to view or be entertained by, this is where sport goes wrong.........imo.
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Well after being at the Olympics in 2010 I would suggest there are a great deal amount of people were certainly entertained by the cycling in the velodrome - the Hoy and Kenny medals were brilliant to watch. Any time there is an event in the velodrome in Manchester it's sold out - it's a popular sport , and it's become that way since Broadman brought it into the limelight and then people like Hoy and the Kennys took it onto the next level.

You personally may not like but looking at the crowds at the Olympics and Worlds there are a great deal that do like it
 
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