Shane Sutton has maintained his innocence after British Cycling’s board of directors upheld allegations made by Jess Varnish of “inappropriate and discriminatory language” and has refused to rule out legal action.

Varnish had accused Sutton of telling her to “go and have a baby” and that she was “too old” to compete at the Rio Olympics which, along with further allegations that he described Paralympic athletes as “gimps and wobblies”, led to his resignation as British Cycling’s techinical director in April.

British Cycling upholds complaint against Shane Sutton by Jess Varnish Read more

On Friday the governing body released a statement, acknowledging that Varnish’s allegation has been upheld, but Sutton, who admits that a return to British Cycling is out of the question, remains determined to clear his name. Speaking to the Sunday Telegraph, the Australian said: “I’m adamant that I am innocent. I have definitely never overstepped the mark with Jess Varnish or any other athlete.”

Varnish’s allegations came in an interview with the Daily Mail after she had been dropped from the British Cycling’s Olympic podium programme – a move that Sutton maintains was purely down to performance. Varnish welcomed the verdict on Friday, stating: “I would like to thank those involved and those that contributed to the investigation for their time and effort.”

But Sutton has hit out the timescale of the investigation, led by the non-executive director Alex Russell. “I have gone back to them now and asked for the supporting evidence to try to understand how they have arrived at this conclusion,” he said. “I’m totally adamant that no conversations took place of that nature and that’s why I’ve asked for the supporting evidence. Where is the evidence that this conversation, these comments took place?. [Legal action] is a long way off. We’ll just have to sit back and talk to our lawyers and see.”

Sutton, who took over as British Cycling’s technical director from Sir Dave Brailsford in 2014, having arrived at British Cycling in 2002, is free to seek employment elsewhere now that the investigation has been completed and there is unlikely to be a shortage of offers. Sara Symington is widely expected to take over from Sutton in what is a turbulent time despite the continued Olympic success in Rio. Ian Drake, the chief executive, announced his resignation this month while British Cycling will also be summoned to explain its controversial use of therapeutic use exemptions (TUEs) at a parliamentary hearing in December.