Jess Varnish has called for the entire board of British Cycling to resign and claims she has been “thrown under the bus” by the governing body. The 26-year-old, who was dropped from cycling’s elite programme last year before the Rio Olympics, believes the truth is finally emerging of the culture within the organisation.

A draft version of the findings of an internal investigation into her removal were leaked this week to the Daily Mail and it accuses the board of “sanitising” and even “reversing” the findings of the British Cycling grievance officer Alex Russell’s report in an attempt to clear the former technical director Shane Sutton.

Varnish had accused Sutton of using sexist language towards her when he told her of her release, saying the Australian told her to “go and have a baby” – claims he denies. In an interview with the BBC Varnish said: “I’m not surprised. I had absolutely no faith in the investigation from the get-go. I had been there for a long time and basically I had no faith in it whatsoever so unfortunately I’m not shocked by that.

“Now there needs to be changes. These people can’t be still in there if they’ve reversed facts. They can’t still be able to be on that board. There needs to be an entire overhaul.”

Within days of Varnish making her allegations, other former riders had come forward to make similar allegations and Sutton resigned. The leaked draft report delivered a damning indictment of the “dysfunctional” and “inept” leadership overseeing a programme in which a “culture of fear” exists, where dissenting voices are shown the door and bullying and sexism are tolerated.

Co-commissioned by British Cycling and the elite funding agency UK Sport, the 10-month inquiry into allegations of bullying and discrimination has been conducted by a five-strong panel led by the British Rowing chair, Annamarie Phelps. Varnish said she was not surprised by the report’s contents and was “relieved” that “the truth is coming out.”

“Obviously my story is the truth and it’s been exactly the same throughout but I feel like I have just been pulled from pillar to post,” she said. “One minute they’re saying the board are saying that they believe me, the next minute I’m receiving a letter and a knock at the door saying it’s reversed. Just to get this and see that it’s a cover-up is huge.”

Asked why she thought British Cycling might attempt to cover up the facts, she said: “Just to protect themselves and to protect the look of British Cycling. It’s a lot easier for them to throw me under the bus rather than the whole of British Cycling and for the actual truth to come out.

“I think what we’ve seen with the board is that there are still members who overturned this decision, who covered things up, still in control,” she added.

Varnish has also asked her lawyers to consider whether she should launch legal action in the wake of the report.

A statement released on Friday evening on behalf of the Cycling Independent Review Panel, British Cycling and UK Sport expressed disappointment that the report had been leaked before it was finalised, and said there would be no further comment until the report was completed and published.

Meanwhile, Sir Dave Brailsford insisted he will not leave his post despite the ongoing scrutiny over the mystery package delivered to Sir Bradley Wiggins at the 2011 Critérium du Dauphiné and his management of British Cycling. The embattled Team Sky principal, who also insisted that he has held “a good conversation” with the team leader, Chris Froome, despite the three-times Tour de France winner’s apparent reluctance to come out in support of his superior. Brailsford was described as an “untouchable” figure who took decisions about British Cycling’s multi-million -pound budget on his own by the report.

The 53-year-old has also been criticised for failing to fully explain fully to the culture, media and sport select committee what was in the mysterious jiffy bag delivered to Wiggins in 2011 by Dr Richard Freeman.

Brailsford has not spoken to the media since Team Sky’s training camp in Mallorca in early January but was spotted during the Tirreno-Adriatico road race this week and initially refused a request to take questions. He eventually relented and told Cycling News he has no intention of leaving the position he has occupied with Team Sky since 2010.

“Of course I’m not hiding. I’m fine in myself and I’ve got confidence in my team,” he said. “No [I’m not thinking about leaving]. My thoughts are about what’s good for the team and what’s right. We’re just here to win as many races as possible and do it the right way and that’s my primary concern and that’s what I think about.”