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  • There's a lot of talk about a culture of fear and bullying at British Cycling after this report. I dunno about any of it: I reckon if you were to go over most coaching/management structures at top-level sport with a fine-tooth comb and apply normalised working practises I imagine many would come up short. Imagine Sir Alec Ferguson being told he was a bully and that he instilled a culture of fear in the dressing room, he'd laugh in your face. This was a man who was famous for his half-time 'hairdryer' and famously kicked a football boot into David Beckham's boot. If you crossed him, you were out.

    He's also the most successful British manager of all time. And there's certainly a correlation between the two.

    In a results-driven environment there has to be a degree of ruthlessness. Maybe Brailsford and Sutton wandered too far down that road but at the same time you can make the case they were pragmatic and that pragmatism drove the results that followed. And such pragmatism also means people get told some uncomfortable truths.

    I just think it needs to be taken with a pinch of salt. I imagine being in BC and being top of your game, like say Laura Kenny, and you're very well looked after. If you start to struggle I sure it gets pretty dark very quickly, and people are going to feel a lot of resentment.

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