Bradley Wiggins Jiffy Bag furore saw support for Shane Sutton's return to British Cycling evaporate, says report

Supporters of former Great Britain Cycling Team technical director Shane Sutton pulled back from pressing from him to be reinstated in the position after the controversy blew up over the Jiffy Bag delivered to a Team Sky doctor and containing medicine for Bradley Wiggins at the 2011 Criterium du Dauphine.

The package, delivered to the French Alps via Switzerland by former British Cycling employee Simon Cope, now manager of Team Wiggins, has been under scrutiny both by UK Anti-doping (UKAD) and the House of Commons Select Committee for Culture, Media and Sport, as part of its ongoing investigation into doping in sport.

Sutton, who resigned from British Cycling in April last year after allegations of bullying and discrimination were made against him by riders including track sprinter Jess Varnish and former Paralympic champion Darren Kenny, testified before the committee in December but claimed he did not know what the package contained.

At the time, he was coach to Team Sky and was particularly close to Wiggins, who has described him as a 'father figure.'

The Australian polarises opinion among riders who have enjoyed success with the national team - Nicole Cooke and Victoria Pendleton, both now retired, are among those to have spoken out against him, while several gold medal winning riders at last year's Rio Olympics have said that Sutton, despite his departure, should be credited for Team GB's success in Brazil.

​According to Mail Online - the media outlet that first broke the story of the allegations against Sutton and of the mystery surrounding that package delivered to Team Sky - 'high-ranked officials' within British Cycling pushed to have him reinstated after an internal enquiry upheld just one of nine complaints Varnish made against him.

 Last month, Cycling Australia chose former British Cycling coach as its new high performance director with Sutton - the other leading candidate - missing out on the position.

> Shane Sutton misses out on Cycling Australia top job - which goes to ex-GB coach, Simon Jones