British Cycling’s Shanghai success overshadowed by misconduct claims and restructuring

British Cycling produced its strongest world track championships showing since 2012 in Shanghai in 2026, but the achievement was overshadowed by allegations of misconduct within the organisation and a concurrent restructuring that threatens job losses.

Despite the off-track turmoil, the GB squad topped the medal table at the world track championships — the first qualifying event for the 2028 Olympic Games — winning six gold, three silver and three bronze medals. Star sprinter Matt Richardson was withdrawn from competition on the eve of the event because of allegations of "discriminatory remarks," and Anna Morris stepped into the void to win three world titles, joining past triple gold medallists Victoria Pendleton and Bradley Wiggins. Millie Couzens won the individual pursuit and Erin Boothman took the Madison; the campaign was Britain’s best at the world championships since Melbourne in 2012, when they also claimed six gold medals.

Richardson’s withdrawal prompted further allegations during the championships of discrimination and bullying in the wider organisation, and Richardson is now under investigation, although British Cycling has declined to state when it is expected to conclude, or whether the findings will be made public. Neither British Cycling or UK Sport were able to confirm the date of Lindsay’s complaint being raised, nor the details of any action that was taken.

British Cycling is undergoing a restructuring described internally as creating "a stronger organisation," with a spokesperson saying the changes "will result in some roles being removed" while saying it would be inappropriate to give a figure on roles potentially at risk. Sources have told the Guardian that up to 17 roles within the national body are considered at risk.

A survey reported by the Times, commissioned by former British Cycling CEO Jon Dutton, found 31% of riders and staff answered yes when asked whether they had "witnessed or experienced thoughtless, inappropriate, or unacceptable behaviour." When describing the culture of their world-class programme, "driven" was the most commonly used word, while the second-most prominent descriptors — alongside "supportive" — included "toxic."

Former commercial manager Jack Lindsay published a LinkedIn post saying he had complained formally over bullying but that there was "no action against the individual I had sought to hold responsible." He added that he had "repeatedly raised incidents of bullying by a member of the executive with members of the senior leadership team, and that management had chosen to address them informally." Lindsay also wrote that "The high-performance programme receives millions of pounds each year in public funding," and that "Athletes, staff, sponsors and the public have a legitimate interest in whether the organisation upholds the standards it promotes." His post was supported by Georgia Holt, who said that she had "unfortunately experienced the same toxic culture" and described the allegations as a "peek under the rug at a large scale operation that hasn’t had significant scrutiny because the medals keep coming in." The Guardian has confirmed the staff Culture Survey was implemented by Dutton in direct response to Lindsay’s complaint.

UK Sport reiterated that "the highest standards of integrity and athlete welfare are non-negotiable when it comes to UK Sport’s commitment to winning well." It is a decade since Jess Varnish made allegations of sexism and bullying against then technical director Shane Sutton; he denied the accusations but Varnish’s complaint was upheld. Those allegations led to the commissioning of an independent review of British Cycling’s culture in 2017, which revealed a "culture of fear" and a "dysfunctional leadership," after which the national body set out to develop "common values, leadership principles and employee behaviours that British Cycling lives by." On the condition of anonymity, one former British Cycling employee who also worked in an advisory capacity said that "the problems went round and round, people left, others took their place and no progress was made." The same source added: "The only thing that mattered was more medals, as with that the budget was secure. The culture was based solely on the result and how that was achieved came under no scrutiny."

In response to the criticisms, British Cycling said it was "committed to delivering our strategy and ambitions in an environment where people feel supported, valued and able to do their best work." The body added: "Our most recent staff Culture Survey recorded a 71.2% favourability score across the organisation, which is categorised as ‘very good.’" It continued: "However, we recognise some colleagues have raised concerns, and we are committed to listening and acting wherever this is the case." "The GB Cycling Team has developed an action plan that is being implemented, alongside wider work across British Cycling focused on leadership, development, feedback and wellbeing."

Jon Dutton left British Cycling this summer; he was appointed as CEO of the British Olympic Association in January this year and assumed his new role in July.