British Cycling email seemingly threatened riders about the nature of their public comments

A British Cycling email seen by The Telegraph appears to warn riders that they should not stray too far from the organisation’s official line on recent controversies or they could risk having support withdrawn ahead of the Olympics. When challenged on this by one rider, interim performance director Andy Harrison said that it was a ‘poorly-constructed sentence’ and claimed he had meant that further controversies would simply take up valuable time that could otherwise be devoted to athletes.

In an email sent on April 29 following Shane Sutton’s departure, Harrison seemingly warned riders that their public comments could be held against them.

“You are free to say yes or no to interviews, but how you respond will be a big factor in our ability to support you as the current season unfolds,” he wrote.

The email was sent two days after the Rio 2016 Team GB kit launch, where it was reported that British Cycling had decided not to make Laura Trott, Becky James or Lizzie Armitstead available for interview.

At least one rider immediately questioned Harrison about the email, unhappy with the implications, and received the following response.

“I want to apologise if the first line of the below email is misleading. The intention of the sentence was to highlight that I want my (and the staff’s) time to be focussed upon supporting you (‘the riders’).

“This week has been difficult. The serious issues raised are important and will be dealt with in the correct manner (as indicated in the original email). My hope is that I can spend less time reacting (as has been the necessity this week) and more time supporting the programme (staff and riders).

“I hope this makes sense. Once again I apologise if this genuine sentiment has been lost in a poorly constructed sentence. As always don’t hesitate to contact me to discuss further.”

A British Cycling spokesman said: “Andy immediately apologised and issued a quick clarification as riders have been told throughout recent weeks that they are free to speak of their own experiences to the media.”

The original email did however include a suggested response should the rider have been questioned about any of the issues relating to the organisation at that time. As well as Sutton’s departure, British Cycling had just been asked to investigate online sales of GB kit, and it had also just been revealed that Simon Yates had failed an anti-doping control – his team, Orica-GreenEdge, subsequently blaming British Cycling for leaking the news.

In the email, Harrison asked that riders “reflect the following messaging.”

“The specific allegations that have been circulating in the media over the past week are extremely serious and I’m pleased to see that British Cycling and UK Sport are launching a full enquiry.

“I’m confident that they will get to the bottom of these allegations and that British Cycling will emerge stronger as a result.”