Jess Varnish 'relieved' as sexism complaint against Shane Sutton is upheld by British Cycling

Sutton resigned on April 27, 100 days prior to the Rio Olympics, over allegations of sexism levelled by Varnish and further claims he called members of the Paralympic team "gimps" and "wobblies".

The Australian rejected the specific allegations, but quit his role as technical director to avoid any distraction leading up to the Rio Olympics.

Varnish, from Halesowen, complained and her claim was investigated internally by British Cycling, with the findings reported to its board yesterday.

She had claimed Sutton had made derogatory remarks including telling her "to go and have a baby" and that he "bum was too big".

Varnish today said she was relieved that her complaint had been upheld and hoped that the findings would be used to "create a better environment for the Great Britain team."

A British Cycling statement read: "Following an internal investigation, the British Cycling board has upheld an allegation made by Jess Varnish that former technical director Shane Sutton had used inappropriate and discriminatory language.

"The board wishes to put on record its sincere regret that this happened."

A statement on Jess Varnish's website said: "I spoke out because I wanted to shine a light on the culture at British Cycling, a culture that in my mind was incorrect.

"I'm relieved that the British Cycling board have acknowledged that the language used towards me was inappropriate and discriminatory and I would like to thank those involved and those that contributed to the investigation for their time and effort.

"I've always believed in standing up for yourself, especially when you know things are wrong.

"It wasn't easy for me to talk about this experience and I could've quite easily said and done nothing, but that isn't me.

"I've always given 100 per cent to my sport, and am still in love with cycling, so I hope that British Cycling can use this investigation as a way to improve and create a better environment for the Great Britain team."

The independent review into the culture of British Cycling, commissioned by the national governing body and elite sport funding body UK Sport, is ongoing.

The internal investigation will be shared with the independent review.

British Cycling's statement added: "The findings of the investigation will help the development of the organisation alongside the independent review into the culture of the world class programme, jointly commissioned by British Cycling and UK Sport, and led by Annamarie Phelps.

"The full text of the board's report has been made available to the independent review. No further comment will be made until that review has reported its findings."