British Cycling Performance Manager Shane Sutton was yesterday invested as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) by Her Majesty the Queen at a ceremony at Buckingham Palace in London.
The Australian has worked with British Cycling since 2002, and is one of the driving forces behind Team GB’s success in recent years, including the Beijing Olympics. Currently, he is helping the team as it starts its preparations for the London 2012 Games.
Sutton said: "It is a huge honour and privilege to be here today which I owe entirely to the brilliant work and commitment of the riders, the coaching team and the support staff around me. This accolade is not about personal achievement but that of the whole GB Cycling Team."
During his own cycling career, Sutton helped his native Australia win gold in the team pursuit at the 1978 Commonwealth Games. On the road, he won the Milk Race in 1990, as well as the Herald Sun Tour in 1983.
That race seems to have special links with the Sutton family. In 1984, Shane was succeeded to the title by his brother Gary, whose son Chris was runner-up to Bradley Wiggins last year when both cyclists were with Garmin-Slipstream.
The pair have since moved to Team Sky, of course, where Chris has been reunited with his uncle Shane, who acts as head coach to the ProTour outfit in addition to his British Cycling duties.
Brian Cookson OBE, President of British Cycling, said: “On behalf of everyone at British Cycling I’d like to congratulate Shane on this well-deserved honour. The contribution he has made over the past few years has been immense, and his knowledge and expertise will be invaluable with London 2012 looming ever larger on the horizon.”
This what I don't get - Mr Briggs is walking past the 5 deaths a day to hammer on about these freak accidents.
WARNING DRIVERS! Take care on cloudy days, you are not covered by the sun-in-my-eyes defence.
There's an underpass. 'For cyclists' is dubious though. It may tolerate cyclists, but it's not really suitable for them, particularly for any 'non...
Nice prize
Is that like the Nine Days Queen - a troublesome interlude that enjoyed brief popularity before being destroyed by powerful vested interests...?
Looks/sounds more like a snapped chain rather than a slipped one?
Thank you for sharing the link to the article, Eburt. I do hope that the people who commented on it are not representative of Gloucestershire's...
Pinot. Preparing to be disappointed again...
I know it's the sensible choice, Jakobsen has been in great form, but it's not the decision I want to see. He'd better be good at shouldering the...
The Jura Cycling merino jerseys were extremely good cvalue for money, I got one exactly like the one pictured. Unfortunately they're not doing them...