0:00:02 > 0:00:05- COMMENTATOR:- World champion Chris Hoy of Great Britain takes gold.
0:00:05 > 0:00:06What a fantastic performance!
0:00:06 > 0:00:10And Wiggins is going to be the next leader of the tour.
0:00:10 > 0:00:14They are among Britain's greatest sporting heroes...
0:00:14 > 0:00:16The gold medal is Great Britain's.
0:00:16 > 0:00:19Here they come up to the line!
0:00:19 > 0:00:21..whose success was built
0:00:21 > 0:00:26thanks to a ruthless new vision of how to win.
0:00:26 > 0:00:28We wanted to be the SAS of the Olympic world.
0:00:34 > 0:00:36You're in the business of pain.
0:00:36 > 0:00:37It's not going to be easy.
0:00:39 > 0:00:42But winning had a dark side.
0:00:42 > 0:00:45Sir Bradley, could you tell us about the mystery package?
0:00:45 > 0:00:47It's just hugely disappointing.
0:00:47 > 0:00:49Could you just give us some light on that, please?
0:00:49 > 0:00:53I was like... "I thought you guys were different."
0:00:53 > 0:00:55They are all in the pain barrier.
0:00:55 > 0:00:57They are really suffering now.
0:00:57 > 0:00:59It made people wonder,
0:00:59 > 0:01:02is this how you deal with someone that you've been treating
0:01:02 > 0:01:04as a serious Olympian?
0:01:05 > 0:01:08Now the men at the centre of the storm...
0:01:08 > 0:01:12I'm upset that you've questioned the integrity of our team.
0:01:12 > 0:01:15..give their side of the story.
0:01:15 > 0:01:18We're not really interested in fourth to eighth,
0:01:18 > 0:01:21that's the harsh reality of it.
0:01:21 > 0:01:24We're not there to try and be, you know, a happy family.
0:01:24 > 0:01:26It's not The Waltons.
0:01:26 > 0:01:30They built the greatest medal factory in British history.
0:01:30 > 0:01:35Do we want an era where we win everything,
0:01:35 > 0:01:37but there is a human cost to pay?
0:01:37 > 0:01:41But in their pursuit of glory, did they cross a line?
0:01:41 > 0:01:44And the gold medal goes to Great Britain!
0:01:55 > 0:01:57- TV PRESENTER:- The countdown is on for what could be
0:01:57 > 0:01:59the greatest day in British sport
0:01:59 > 0:02:01at the Olympics for over 100 years.
0:02:05 > 0:02:09The first event in Beijing was the team sprint.
0:02:09 > 0:02:12Well, the opponents, the team from France,
0:02:12 > 0:02:15that they've raced against many times over the years...
0:02:15 > 0:02:17We'd had the World Championships a few months before,
0:02:17 > 0:02:20and we'd lost by half a second to the French.
0:02:20 > 0:02:23And the French were the favourites, the hot favourites for a gold medal.
0:02:23 > 0:02:27Let me just tell you the line-up for Great Britain is Jamie Staff...
0:02:27 > 0:02:31In training, everybody was flying.
0:02:31 > 0:02:34But you're never quite sure whether you've calibrated what you're seeing
0:02:34 > 0:02:36in training into racing.
0:02:37 > 0:02:41Get ready for this. There's going to be some fireworks, I can tell you.
0:02:41 > 0:02:44And we're away. Jamie Staff comes out of that gate,
0:02:44 > 0:02:47and launches himself into the opening lap now.
0:02:49 > 0:02:53Staff leading off, Kenny, then Hoy sitting back there...
0:02:53 > 0:02:56Our guys got up, and they did this phenomenal ride.
0:02:56 > 0:03:00Here they come to complete that opening lap now.
0:03:00 > 0:03:0417.136 for Great Britain.
0:03:04 > 0:03:06The fastest opening lap of the competition.
0:03:06 > 0:03:09And Kenny is riding...
0:03:09 > 0:03:12And what we knew straight away was our calibration was right.
0:03:12 > 0:03:16That inside world record pace, and Kenny has released Hoy
0:03:16 > 0:03:18for the final 250.
0:03:18 > 0:03:19Tournant's working hard,
0:03:19 > 0:03:21but nobody's going to stop the flying Scot.
0:03:21 > 0:03:23Chris Hoy brings the team home.
0:03:23 > 0:03:2943.128 to take that gold medal.
0:03:29 > 0:03:31I can remember Shane was the other side of the velodrome,
0:03:31 > 0:03:33I was this side, and we just looked at each other.
0:03:33 > 0:03:36I looked at him, we crossed the line, and I said,
0:03:36 > 0:03:38- "We're going to win a- BLEEP."
0:03:38 > 0:03:42They were my exact words. Sorry for swearing, but...
0:03:42 > 0:03:45Yeah, we were going to win loads of medals.
0:03:45 > 0:03:49And the business-like style by Great Britain's quartet is very,
0:03:49 > 0:03:50very impressive indeed.
0:03:50 > 0:03:53We were flying under the radar, nobody had really noticed,
0:03:53 > 0:03:56and we went in there and smashed it, basically.
0:03:56 > 0:03:57And Shane Sutton urges them on.
0:03:57 > 0:03:59And the crowd are loving it.
0:03:59 > 0:04:01It's another world record.
0:04:01 > 0:04:03Eight gold medals.
0:04:05 > 0:04:06One on the road...
0:04:06 > 0:04:09Victoria Pendleton is the Olympic champion.
0:04:09 > 0:04:11..seven on the track.
0:04:11 > 0:04:15And this may well be gold medal number two for Darren Kenny.
0:04:15 > 0:04:20And Paralympians follow up with a further 17 gold medals.
0:04:21 > 0:04:24It is Britain's greatest ever Olympic achievement.
0:04:27 > 0:04:30And we would go home every night, and Dave would say,
0:04:30 > 0:04:33"Oh, if we could just win another one tomorrow."
0:04:33 > 0:04:35By this time, you know, the count is up to four, or whatever,
0:04:35 > 0:04:36and I'm saying,
0:04:36 > 0:04:39"Well, we don't want to put the bar too high, Dave, you know?"
0:04:39 > 0:04:41"I think we've done fantastic," and everything else.
0:04:41 > 0:04:43And we'd win another one.
0:04:43 > 0:04:46That night, "Oh, just imagine if we could just win another one.
0:04:46 > 0:04:48"If we could just top, you know...
0:04:48 > 0:04:50"If we could just top all the other sports."
0:04:50 > 0:04:54That was Dave all over, you know? He just...
0:04:54 > 0:04:56Winning wasn't good enough - he wanted to win everything.
0:04:56 > 0:04:58And that's what defined him from the rest.
0:05:01 > 0:05:05Britain's triumph at Beijing took the world by storm.
0:05:05 > 0:05:07But it had been years in the planning.
0:05:13 > 0:05:15Brailsford had been appointed
0:05:15 > 0:05:20British Cycling performance director in 2004.
0:05:20 > 0:05:23From his base at the Manchester Velodrome,
0:05:23 > 0:05:25he had recruited a brains trust
0:05:25 > 0:05:29of the best and brightest from the world of cycling and beyond.
0:05:31 > 0:05:34From the outset, his right-hand man
0:05:34 > 0:05:39was former professional rider turned coach, Australian Shane Sutton.
0:05:41 > 0:05:44The Sutton-Brailsford partnership is very, very important.
0:05:46 > 0:05:48They're kind of like man and wife.
0:05:48 > 0:05:51You know? I mean, they need each other.
0:05:51 > 0:05:55Dave is slightly more Olympian and distant,
0:05:55 > 0:05:59Shane is the guy who's, you know, down there with the athletes,
0:05:59 > 0:06:04kicking their arses and giving them big hugs when they perform.
0:06:04 > 0:06:06He knew cycling inside out.
0:06:06 > 0:06:09He was watching the cyclist, he was watching people compete,
0:06:09 > 0:06:12he was seeing things that other people weren't seeing.
0:06:12 > 0:06:15And he could really make somebody feel like a million dollars.
0:06:17 > 0:06:20And I think in terms of going into battle, when people get nervous,
0:06:20 > 0:06:23you've got to really go into the trenches, as it were,
0:06:23 > 0:06:26you would really want Shane Sutton next to you.
0:06:26 > 0:06:32I think Dave was a wild Welshman, and, yeah, I was a wild Aussie.
0:06:32 > 0:06:36And, you know, he was meticulous in the details of how we operated.
0:06:36 > 0:06:39He was a disciplinarian, which really suited me, because I...
0:06:39 > 0:06:42I like to be very structured, very disciplined, you know?
0:06:44 > 0:06:49What unites them is this obsession with being the best.
0:06:49 > 0:06:52They are just incredibly intense competitors.
0:06:53 > 0:06:55And in the drive to win,
0:06:55 > 0:06:59Brailsford had another maverick plan up his sleeve.
0:07:01 > 0:07:05Kaizen. Information on continued improvement.
0:07:09 > 0:07:14Kaizen was a performance philosophy from the car industry in Japan.
0:07:16 > 0:07:21Quality circles, automation, just-in-time delivery...
0:07:21 > 0:07:23Its simple message -
0:07:23 > 0:07:26attention to the tiniest details
0:07:26 > 0:07:29can give you the crucial edge over competitors.
0:07:29 > 0:07:33Kaizen is just the beginning of a long journey
0:07:33 > 0:07:36of continual improvement.
0:07:40 > 0:07:43Brailsford had his own name for it...
0:07:45 > 0:07:48..the aggregation of marginal gains.
0:07:50 > 0:07:53You start with, OK, let's have a look at the turbulence
0:07:53 > 0:07:55around a tyre, the turbulence around the frame,
0:07:55 > 0:07:58the front cross-sectional area, the drag coefficient.
0:07:58 > 0:08:01You look at the helmet, you look at the glasses, you look at the visor.
0:08:01 > 0:08:03You look at everything - the shoe coverings...
0:08:03 > 0:08:05Everything, basically.
0:08:09 > 0:08:13Sportsmen have always looked for gains in as many different areas
0:08:13 > 0:08:17as they can, but breaking it down into its constituent parts
0:08:17 > 0:08:22and refining a system where you could look at individual areas
0:08:22 > 0:08:25of an athlete's sporting life - that was very new.
0:08:29 > 0:08:31So give us an example of a marginal gain.
0:08:31 > 0:08:34I mean, for example, we're encouraged to, you know,
0:08:34 > 0:08:37rest our legs, not spend too much time walking around.
0:08:37 > 0:08:39All those, sort of, simple things that...
0:08:39 > 0:08:41It means you have to sacrifice a bit, but in the long term,
0:08:41 > 0:08:44it's definitely worth it.
0:08:49 > 0:08:52Above all, that obsession with performance
0:08:52 > 0:08:55applied to the riders themselves.
0:08:58 > 0:09:00We were interested in Olympic medals,
0:09:00 > 0:09:01and in particular gold medals.
0:09:03 > 0:09:05You know, not everybody was going to make it. It's elite.
0:09:05 > 0:09:08If you can get in there, you're going to have to hang onto your hat
0:09:08 > 0:09:11and really perform if you're there, or you move out.
0:09:11 > 0:09:14But we're going to push, and we're going to push to the very edge.
0:09:14 > 0:09:16And if everybody's not feeling a bit uncomfortable,
0:09:16 > 0:09:19we're not pushing hard enough.
0:09:19 > 0:09:21It was an uncompromising regime.
0:09:22 > 0:09:26Riders who didn't meet the standard would be dropped.
0:09:34 > 0:09:36CHEERING
0:09:36 > 0:09:39To ensure the athletes could handle the pressure,
0:09:39 > 0:09:42Brailsford made an unusual appointment.
0:09:45 > 0:09:47Steve Peters was a psychiatrist
0:09:47 > 0:09:50who had worked at Rampton Secure Hospital,
0:09:50 > 0:09:53and had a background in dealing with the criminally insane.
0:09:55 > 0:09:58My job was the people side of it.
0:09:58 > 0:09:59Get people in the best place possible,
0:09:59 > 0:10:03get the team in the best place possible...
0:10:03 > 0:10:04sort out any problems.
0:10:06 > 0:10:08You're only as good as your last performance.
0:10:08 > 0:10:11You're competing for positions on the team,
0:10:11 > 0:10:14your funding relies on how well you do, and there's no, sort of,
0:10:14 > 0:10:16compensation if you are injured, for example.
0:10:16 > 0:10:19You have to produce on the day, so there are all these pressures.
0:10:24 > 0:10:27When you look at, you know, the likes of Steve Peters and that,
0:10:27 > 0:10:29that we had on board at the time,
0:10:29 > 0:10:32these just aren't normal people.
0:10:32 > 0:10:36These are very special people that are born with a gift.
0:10:36 > 0:10:39And they could find things that other people couldn't find.
0:10:39 > 0:10:43You know, they could find what's...through the mind.
0:10:47 > 0:10:512008 Sports Personality Coach of the Year is David Brailsford.
0:10:55 > 0:10:57Dave and Shane were at the peak of their powers.
0:10:57 > 0:11:04They become unassailable because their track record is so fantastic.
0:11:04 > 0:11:07They've achieved so much.
0:11:07 > 0:11:10So, ladies and gentlemen, David Brailsford.
0:11:10 > 0:11:12CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:11:24 > 0:11:27I've always loved riding my bike,
0:11:27 > 0:11:31and then I left home when I was about 19, left Wales.
0:11:31 > 0:11:34I put my bike in a cardboard box, rucksack,
0:11:34 > 0:11:37left my job, and headed off to France.
0:11:37 > 0:11:40And...I wanted to be a pro cyclist, basically.
0:11:40 > 0:11:43I wanted to win the Tour de France.
0:11:45 > 0:11:46I love this stuff, I just love it.
0:11:46 > 0:11:49And I love the sport. I found... I thought I found...
0:11:49 > 0:11:52I wasn't going to make it as a pro cyclist myself,
0:11:52 > 0:11:54but I thought maybe I'd found something that I could do well,
0:11:54 > 0:11:57and that I could still be involved in the sport with,
0:11:57 > 0:11:59but actually come at it from a different angle.
0:11:59 > 0:12:00Which...
0:12:01 > 0:12:05..is, I guess, what I do, basically.
0:12:05 > 0:12:08But Olympic triumph wasn't enough for Dave Brailsford.
0:12:10 > 0:12:14He now set his sights on another seemingly impossible goal.
0:12:26 > 0:12:29Within professional cycling, there is one race
0:12:29 > 0:12:31that counts above all others.
0:12:37 > 0:12:42The Tour de France is perhaps the greatest endurance competition
0:12:42 > 0:12:44on the planet.
0:12:44 > 0:12:48Across 21 relentless days,
0:12:48 > 0:12:533,500 kilometres, racing up steep mountain passes...
0:12:53 > 0:12:55- COMMENTATOR:- They are all in the pain barrier.
0:12:55 > 0:12:57They are really suffering now.
0:12:57 > 0:12:59..and through deep valleys.
0:12:59 > 0:13:03Incredible descent. These boys have got to be extremely careful.
0:13:07 > 0:13:11These are professional bike riders on their absolute limit.
0:13:11 > 0:13:13But they're professional bike riders,
0:13:13 > 0:13:16and pain is part of the game.
0:13:16 > 0:13:19One British rider had even died in his attempt to win the tour.
0:13:33 > 0:13:37Bike racing is very much sadomasochism.
0:13:37 > 0:13:39You know, you're hurting yourself, but normally that's in order
0:13:39 > 0:13:42to hurt other people, to weaken them, to beat them.
0:13:44 > 0:13:48The best professional cyclists are the ones who can suffer more,
0:13:48 > 0:13:50who can go deeper.
0:13:52 > 0:13:54You're always doing all these calculations,
0:13:54 > 0:13:56all the time, constantly.
0:13:56 > 0:13:59Can you stay strong enough to know it's not going to last?
0:13:59 > 0:14:02If I'm hurting, I'm hurting, and I'm making other people suffer.
0:14:02 > 0:14:05They can only do this for two minutes, three minutes,
0:14:05 > 0:14:07they can do it for 15 minutes, I can do that.
0:14:07 > 0:14:11I'm just going to get over this hard section, I can race the rest.
0:14:11 > 0:14:13And there's the guys who can do those calculations
0:14:13 > 0:14:14kind of just like that...
0:14:15 > 0:14:18..and can manage that suffering, that hurting,
0:14:18 > 0:14:21and kind of get it all balanced - they're the best guys.
0:14:25 > 0:14:28The pain and impossible demands placed on riders
0:14:28 > 0:14:32has also turned it into one of the most tainted sports.
0:14:36 > 0:14:38When I turned pro in 1997 as a 19-year-old,
0:14:38 > 0:14:41it was impossible to win the biggest races without doping.
0:14:41 > 0:14:46We had flasks, the team buses had pharmaceutical sections,
0:14:46 > 0:14:49team trucks, we had two or three or four team doctors per team.
0:14:49 > 0:14:54We doping training camps, we had fixers in teams.
0:14:55 > 0:14:57How many times do I have to say it...
0:14:59 > 0:15:01..that I've never taken drugs?
0:15:03 > 0:15:07It was so dark, the sport was in a terrible place.
0:15:09 > 0:15:12In 2006, you've got Operation Puerto,
0:15:12 > 0:15:14where the bulk of the top tour riders are revealed
0:15:14 > 0:15:17as belonging to this blood doping ring.
0:15:17 > 0:15:19You've got Floyd Landis, you know,
0:15:19 > 0:15:22the first tour winner to be disqualified for doping.
0:15:22 > 0:15:25You've got 2007, the nightmare tour...
0:15:25 > 0:15:29I confirm that I have no positive doping tests.
0:15:29 > 0:15:31..when Michael Rasmussen and Alexander Vinokourov
0:15:31 > 0:15:36were thrown off... I mean, these are incredibly dark years.
0:15:39 > 0:15:42Even David Brailsford had had an encounter
0:15:42 > 0:15:45with the sport's dirty secret.
0:15:50 > 0:15:52In the run-up to the Athens games,
0:15:52 > 0:15:56I was thinking about which of the professional road riders
0:15:56 > 0:15:59should ride for Britain, and who was going to do what events,
0:15:59 > 0:16:02and David Millar was one of the, you know,
0:16:02 > 0:16:05the best riders that we had.
0:16:05 > 0:16:08I thought, actually, you know, I'll go down and see how he's getting on
0:16:08 > 0:16:10and watch him race.
0:16:10 > 0:16:14So, yeah, we went to a restaurant called Blue Cargo,
0:16:14 > 0:16:16and it was a beautiful evening,
0:16:16 > 0:16:19sat there, admiring the view,
0:16:19 > 0:16:22looked at the menu, ordered some food and had a glass of wine.
0:16:24 > 0:16:28And these two guys strolled up,
0:16:28 > 0:16:32didn't really bat an eyelid, really, but they came to our table.
0:16:32 > 0:16:36I thought, "OK, this looks like this is now going to happen."
0:16:36 > 0:16:38It's go time.
0:16:38 > 0:16:41They then said that they were the drugs squad,
0:16:41 > 0:16:45and then they said, "OK, you come with us."
0:16:45 > 0:16:47And they were pretty aggressive about it.
0:16:47 > 0:16:49And off we went.
0:16:49 > 0:16:55It was pretty scary stuff, and...very intimidating.
0:16:57 > 0:17:02The two were arrested and taken back for a search of Millar's flat.
0:17:03 > 0:17:08It's the culmination of a French police investigation into doping
0:17:08 > 0:17:12and the use of the performance-enhancing drug EPO
0:17:12 > 0:17:14in Millar's Cofidis team.
0:17:16 > 0:17:19About the third hour, one of them kind of, shouts.
0:17:19 > 0:17:21I think, "OK, here it is."
0:17:21 > 0:17:23And he comes out, and he's like, "What are these?"
0:17:23 > 0:17:25He'd found to empty EPO syringes
0:17:25 > 0:17:28that I'd had in my book shelves in my bedroom.
0:17:30 > 0:17:32There was one guy, very aggressive,
0:17:32 > 0:17:34and he came and he put his hand right in front of my face,
0:17:34 > 0:17:35and he opened his hand,
0:17:35 > 0:17:38and he said, "Right, what's that?" And he had a syringe.
0:17:40 > 0:17:42And he said, "What does that say?"
0:17:42 > 0:17:45And I said, "Well, it says Eprex." And he said, "Well, what's Eprex?"
0:17:45 > 0:17:47And I didn't know. And I said, "I'm sorry, I don't know."
0:17:47 > 0:17:51- And they... They started to really lose their- BLEEP- with that.
0:17:57 > 0:18:00Once the police were satisfied Brailsford was not involved
0:18:00 > 0:18:03with Millar's drug-taking, he was released.
0:18:04 > 0:18:07But Millar is charged after admitting to doping.
0:18:07 > 0:18:12He is fired by his team, and given a two-year ban.
0:18:12 > 0:18:14It had a big influence, that experience.
0:18:14 > 0:18:17Professional cycling had been, if you like,
0:18:17 > 0:18:19a medical model where the doctors were running
0:18:19 > 0:18:21the training programmes, the doctors were the ones
0:18:21 > 0:18:25who were getting the performance, and none of them had coaches.
0:18:25 > 0:18:27But the sport was definitely cleaning itself up.
0:18:27 > 0:18:29You know, the systematic, kind of,
0:18:29 > 0:18:34team-organised doping programmes were disappearing.
0:18:34 > 0:18:37And it seemed to us that here's the opportunity
0:18:37 > 0:18:40to do something and win clean.
0:18:41 > 0:18:45Racing clean was a defining principle for Team Sky.
0:18:45 > 0:18:48It was something which Dave Brailsford
0:18:48 > 0:18:52made much of in the years when the team was being put together.
0:18:55 > 0:18:58Here's Bradley Wiggins!
0:18:58 > 0:19:01In 2010, Brailsford took his first step
0:19:01 > 0:19:04towards making his dream come true.
0:19:04 > 0:19:06Team Sky, ladies and gentlemen.
0:19:06 > 0:19:09One of his very first presentations he gave, he said,
0:19:09 > 0:19:12"We want to win the Tour de France in five years with a British rider."
0:19:12 > 0:19:15And I was sitting there thinking,
0:19:15 > 0:19:18"Well, that's not going to happen!"
0:19:20 > 0:19:24It was the first British pro team in 23 years,
0:19:24 > 0:19:28formed on the back of a huge sponsorship deal.
0:19:28 > 0:19:32Sky came in and very visibly displayed their wealth.
0:19:32 > 0:19:35There was always a sense that Sky's budget was bigger
0:19:35 > 0:19:37than everybody else's,
0:19:37 > 0:19:40simply because of the people that they could hire,
0:19:40 > 0:19:42the riders that they could hire.
0:19:42 > 0:19:44He was massively ambitious.
0:19:50 > 0:19:53Within just six months, Brailsford was rolling out
0:19:53 > 0:19:57his brand-new team at that year's Tour de France prologue
0:19:57 > 0:19:58in Rotterdam.
0:20:01 > 0:20:05From the slick black kit to the team bus,
0:20:05 > 0:20:08to the Jaguar cars,
0:20:08 > 0:20:13the world of pro cycling had never seen anything quite like it.
0:20:13 > 0:20:17I think people looked at us, and they probably laughed, you know?
0:20:17 > 0:20:20"What do these blokes know?"
0:20:20 > 0:20:25A lot of the traditional, old school kind of guys didn't like our team,
0:20:25 > 0:20:27and certainly didn't like me.
0:20:28 > 0:20:32They weren't shy or backwards in coming forward with that one!
0:20:32 > 0:20:34But I didn't care, I didn't care about them.
0:20:34 > 0:20:36And I quite liked it they didn't like me.
0:20:36 > 0:20:38I thought, "Oh, well, I'm not here for you."
0:20:40 > 0:20:45Crucially, a British team needed a British star rider,
0:20:45 > 0:20:47and when Bradley Wiggins had finished fourth
0:20:47 > 0:20:49in the previous year's tour,
0:20:49 > 0:20:53Brailsford thought he had found his man.
0:20:53 > 0:20:55There was definitely a moment there where you thought,
0:20:55 > 0:21:00"OK, if he can run fourth, he can win the race, basically."
0:21:00 > 0:21:03- COMMENTATOR:- This is a big moment now for not just Team Sky,
0:21:03 > 0:21:05but for Bradley Wiggins.
0:21:05 > 0:21:08He's chosen an early start, because he hoped he would avoid the rain,
0:21:08 > 0:21:10and that hasn't worked.
0:21:10 > 0:21:12So Wiggins now goes down the start ramp,
0:21:12 > 0:21:16and off into the wet roads of Rotterdam. Time will tell.
0:21:16 > 0:21:19As the tour opened with a time trial,
0:21:19 > 0:21:22it wasn't the most auspicious start for Team Sky.
0:21:22 > 0:21:26Wiggins now hits the line, and Bradley Wiggins' time
0:21:26 > 0:21:28will drop him in to only 14th place at the moment,
0:21:28 > 0:21:30and there are an awful lot of riders to come.
0:21:35 > 0:21:39But the Tour de France is won or lost in the mountains.
0:21:43 > 0:21:45Hours of gruelling climbs can break the hopes
0:21:45 > 0:21:49of even the most talented cyclists.
0:21:49 > 0:21:52- COMMENTATOR:- The pace has suddenly got violent on the climb here.
0:21:52 > 0:21:56But all of the work in the chase is being done by Team Sky.
0:21:56 > 0:21:58Well, Fletcher really is turning on the gas there,
0:21:58 > 0:22:01followed by Geraint Thomas, followed by Bradley Wiggins there
0:22:01 > 0:22:02in fourth position.
0:22:02 > 0:22:06For Team Sky and for Wiggins, in their first tour,
0:22:06 > 0:22:08it was a very, very important moment,
0:22:08 > 0:22:12because what happens on the first mountain stage
0:22:12 > 0:22:15is a crucial pointer to how the rest of the race is going to develop.
0:22:15 > 0:22:17There's Brad Wiggins in the black jersey,
0:22:17 > 0:22:19just peeping into our picture...
0:22:19 > 0:22:21I went ahead up to Avoriaz.
0:22:21 > 0:22:25I checked into one of those, sort of, industrial ski hotels.
0:22:25 > 0:22:28I was there with Shane, I turned on the little telly,
0:22:28 > 0:22:30sat there watching it intensely.
0:22:30 > 0:22:33Well, it's a great climb if you're watching in front of the television.
0:22:33 > 0:22:35It's not such a great climb for the guys in that group there,
0:22:35 > 0:22:38because they are going to have to do some serious battle
0:22:38 > 0:22:41on the slopes of Avoriaz.
0:22:41 > 0:22:44We're heading into Avoriaz, and Bradley Wiggins
0:22:44 > 0:22:47has got the weight of Britain on his shoulders, basically.
0:22:47 > 0:22:49And Dave and I were getting nervous, you know,
0:22:49 > 0:22:50we're halfway up the climb.
0:22:50 > 0:22:52Look at the speed that they are climbing.
0:22:52 > 0:22:55It is absolutely incredible.
0:22:55 > 0:22:57There's another one just gone off the back.
0:22:57 > 0:22:59He's done, he's cooked, he's fried...
0:22:59 > 0:23:02Then all of a sudden, you know, there's maybe 15 left.
0:23:02 > 0:23:05We can see the damage that's being done now.
0:23:05 > 0:23:07This is a phenomenal race we're seeing here,
0:23:07 > 0:23:11and a lot of power is being put into this race and the chase...
0:23:11 > 0:23:15We're probably 5K from the top of Avoriaz at this point.
0:23:17 > 0:23:18Brad's, like, 15th...
0:23:18 > 0:23:20This is Bradley Wiggins.
0:23:20 > 0:23:22He's looking as though it's beginning to hurt.
0:23:22 > 0:23:24And Brad's swinging like a dunny door in a hurricane.
0:23:24 > 0:23:26You know he's about to pop.
0:23:26 > 0:23:27Don't unhitch now, Bradley,
0:23:27 > 0:23:31because you must not let go of that group in front of you.
0:23:32 > 0:23:33And I'm just sitting there thinking,
0:23:33 > 0:23:35"He's going to go, he's going to go."
0:23:35 > 0:23:36And sure enough...
0:23:36 > 0:23:38Boom, you know? He blows.
0:23:38 > 0:23:41But he's biding his time. Wiggins is unhitched.
0:23:41 > 0:23:44He's been slipped off the back of this group.
0:23:44 > 0:23:48Ah, it was like Dave's world had just caved in.
0:23:52 > 0:23:54And that was pretty much, you know,
0:23:54 > 0:23:58where our tour and everything fell apart.
0:23:59 > 0:24:01Look at the gap as Wiggins hits the line,
0:24:01 > 0:24:05a minute and three quarters lost to the men he's trying to beat here.
0:24:05 > 0:24:08That's a serious loss when the day seemed to be going so well.
0:24:10 > 0:24:13Bradley, you seem to be setting your own pace riding,
0:24:13 > 0:24:14keeping it steady.
0:24:14 > 0:24:15Do you want me to be honest with you?
0:24:15 > 0:24:17- I'm- BLEEP,- mate. I've got nothing.
0:24:17 > 0:24:21I'm... I just don't have the form. It's as simple as that.
0:24:21 > 0:24:23It was tough.
0:24:23 > 0:24:26We'd had a lot of success, we'd been through all the Olympics,
0:24:26 > 0:24:28we'd achieved a lot, and then all of a sudden,
0:24:28 > 0:24:31this was like a bump back down to earth, and it felt...
0:24:31 > 0:24:33You felt like you'd let people down.
0:24:33 > 0:24:35You felt, it was a bit...
0:24:35 > 0:24:38Kind of, like, nearly a bit of, you know...
0:24:38 > 0:24:40Really, sort of, embarrassment, really.
0:24:40 > 0:24:43And, like, you know, you weren't good enough.
0:24:47 > 0:24:51Wiggins finished the tour in 23rd place.
0:24:58 > 0:25:02At Team Sky, a period of brutal reckoning now began.
0:25:02 > 0:25:05With characteristic ruthlessness,
0:25:05 > 0:25:08everything and anyone was open to question.
0:25:10 > 0:25:15I felt with Bradley, at the end of the first season, he had...
0:25:15 > 0:25:19He is a fantastic... He's proven it, he's an unbelievable talent.
0:25:19 > 0:25:21But he seemed to be a bit lost.
0:25:23 > 0:25:25At that time, you know, Dave was pretty much,
0:25:25 > 0:25:27"Well, I'm just going to get rid of Brad."
0:25:27 > 0:25:31"If he's not going to pull his socks up, we'll get rid of him."
0:25:33 > 0:25:36But Team Sky didn't sack Bradley Wiggins.
0:25:37 > 0:25:43Instead, they decided to start again from scratch.
0:25:43 > 0:25:46Once more, the focus was on the details.
0:25:48 > 0:25:52Here are some basics that we're going to really have to improve on.
0:25:52 > 0:25:55Performance in the heat, performance in the cold,
0:25:55 > 0:25:58performance at altitude, body composition.
0:25:58 > 0:26:01And we just narrowed it down to some very, very key areas, and said,
0:26:01 > 0:26:05"Well, actually, without doing these brilliantly,
0:26:05 > 0:26:07"you're not going to perform.
0:26:07 > 0:26:09"We're not going to perform at the level required."
0:26:10 > 0:26:15But if Brailsford was worried about the performance of Team Sky,
0:26:15 > 0:26:17an even bigger challenge was looming.
0:26:25 > 0:26:28As London prepared for the 2012 Olympics,
0:26:28 > 0:26:32British Cycling's track squad were facing the reality
0:26:32 > 0:26:34of delivering gold for the home crowd.
0:26:39 > 0:26:42Sutton and Brailsford now had to turn their attention
0:26:42 > 0:26:46away from the tour to get the team prepared.
0:26:49 > 0:26:53They would only ever get the chance of that home Olympics once, so...
0:26:53 > 0:26:55the pressure was immense.
0:26:56 > 0:26:59And you have your medal target, and you have a home games.
0:26:59 > 0:27:02You have to get the medals, that is what you're there for.
0:27:02 > 0:27:06And you're in a situation where, if you fall short of Beijing,
0:27:06 > 0:27:09you are going to face massive criticism.
0:27:09 > 0:27:13Now, just 18 months away from the Olympics,
0:27:13 > 0:27:16the British track cyclists faced a crucial test
0:27:16 > 0:27:19at the World Championships in the Netherlands.
0:27:23 > 0:27:26- COMMENTATOR:- Just under two laps to go in race two here
0:27:26 > 0:27:28in the men's sprint final.
0:27:28 > 0:27:29Kenny at the front.
0:27:29 > 0:27:33One down to the French world champion who's looking...
0:27:33 > 0:27:38Apeldoorn was the last major staging post on the road to London.
0:27:38 > 0:27:41It was the moment in the Olympic cycle when, basically,
0:27:41 > 0:27:42you have to get real.
0:27:42 > 0:27:44Here comes the reaction from Kenny.
0:27:44 > 0:27:46Kenny now trying to close down on Bauge.
0:27:46 > 0:27:48Into the back straight...
0:27:48 > 0:27:52So it was the last opportunity for reappraisal, for reassessment,
0:27:52 > 0:27:54for restructuring.
0:27:54 > 0:27:58He's tried, and he can't do it. It's all over.
0:27:58 > 0:28:03Jason Kenny tried his best, but Bauge just too strong.
0:28:03 > 0:28:06We turned up into Apeldoorn, and we were staying
0:28:06 > 0:28:08in a little hotel there.
0:28:08 > 0:28:11And we went down and we started watching the racing, and, you know,
0:28:11 > 0:28:15the performances weren't, you know, at Dave's level.
0:28:15 > 0:28:16Both riders fully committed now.
0:28:16 > 0:28:18Is it going to be the world champions?
0:28:18 > 0:28:20Is it going to be Great Britain? Australia take it.
0:28:20 > 0:28:22Australia gold medal winners...
0:28:22 > 0:28:24It was disappointment...
0:28:25 > 0:28:27Anna Meares of Australia.
0:28:27 > 0:28:28..after disappointment.
0:28:30 > 0:28:32Perkins of Australia takes the gold medal.
0:28:32 > 0:28:36And second, it looks like Sir Chris Hoy.
0:28:37 > 0:28:39- TV PRESENTER:- Great Britain down there in fourth.
0:28:39 > 0:28:42Let's hear what the British team director has to say.
0:28:42 > 0:28:45We came here to compete in the Olympic events only,
0:28:45 > 0:28:48so getting on a podium seven times,
0:28:48 > 0:28:50from our point of view, is satisfactory.
0:28:50 > 0:28:52I think we've raised the bar so high...
0:28:52 > 0:28:56But behind the scenes, Brailsford was anything but satisfied.
0:28:56 > 0:28:59Dave called a meeting of all the staff and riders,
0:28:59 > 0:29:01and the air turned pretty blue.
0:29:01 > 0:29:03And things needed to change.
0:29:03 > 0:29:06And...Shane's going to be taking over.
0:29:06 > 0:29:10And so whatever he says, goes, from now on.
0:29:10 > 0:29:12Shane has always been the go to guy.
0:29:12 > 0:29:15He's always... You know, he's been the guy who historically
0:29:15 > 0:29:18has made it happen.
0:29:18 > 0:29:21So, to that extent, it's an obvious decision.
0:29:24 > 0:29:27Shane Sutton now took complete charge of the Olympic squad.
0:29:29 > 0:29:31He set about training with characteristic rigour.
0:29:33 > 0:29:36His coaching ability is off the grid.
0:29:36 > 0:29:38I've never encountered anybody like it.
0:29:38 > 0:29:40But it's going to be a ride.
0:29:42 > 0:29:44You're in the business of pain.
0:29:44 > 0:29:47You know, it's not going to be easy.
0:29:47 > 0:29:50And I think, you know, you look at a bike rider,
0:29:50 > 0:29:54and you want to take them somewhere that nobody else normally could go.
0:29:54 > 0:29:56It is one of the toughest sports in the world,
0:29:56 > 0:29:57there's no two ways about that.
0:29:57 > 0:30:00It's his ability to tap into your emotions,
0:30:00 > 0:30:02and fire you up, and, kind of,
0:30:02 > 0:30:05just turn your flame up that little bit brighter, you know?
0:30:05 > 0:30:08He was like no other coach in the world.
0:30:10 > 0:30:13But from the start, some team insiders had concerns
0:30:13 > 0:30:16about Shane's style.
0:30:16 > 0:30:21The individual coaches and physios, and sports scientists and engineers
0:30:21 > 0:30:23and mechanics were...
0:30:23 > 0:30:25They were always just brilliant and very supportive.
0:30:25 > 0:30:28But if Shane decided that he didn't like you that day,
0:30:28 > 0:30:29then you were in trouble.
0:30:31 > 0:30:33And if Shane said "Nah," then that was that,
0:30:33 > 0:30:34it wasn't going to happen.
0:30:36 > 0:30:40I think Shane is very passionate, and I think he contributed,
0:30:40 > 0:30:43obviously, significantly, to the success of the team.
0:30:43 > 0:30:46But if something wasn't going right, Shane took it on his shoulders -
0:30:46 > 0:30:50that if this team didn't succeed in London, for example,
0:30:50 > 0:30:52then it was his fault.
0:30:52 > 0:30:55And that made a terrible pressure on him.
0:30:55 > 0:30:58And Shane himself would admit that sometimes his passion overran,
0:30:58 > 0:31:01and then it might turn into what most people would see
0:31:01 > 0:31:04as hostility or aggression.
0:31:04 > 0:31:09Yeah, would I think it's fair to say he's a big character, Shane.
0:31:09 > 0:31:12And I would never, ever deny that I wasn't aware
0:31:12 > 0:31:14of the character that he was.
0:31:14 > 0:31:17But I worked with him. I was there to support him and help him.
0:31:17 > 0:31:21Every now and again it was like, "Shane, come on, step back."
0:31:23 > 0:31:25With Shane Sutton driving the British team
0:31:25 > 0:31:27towards the London Olympics,
0:31:27 > 0:31:31Dave Brailsford and Bradley Wiggins were launching their third crack
0:31:31 > 0:31:33at winning the Tour de France.
0:31:33 > 0:31:34The man in black.
0:31:34 > 0:31:35He said, "Bring it on.
0:31:35 > 0:31:37"I want to start this Tour de France."
0:31:37 > 0:31:40Well, now he's about to do just that.
0:31:45 > 0:31:47There's so many things that can happen,
0:31:47 > 0:31:49so many things that can go wrong,
0:31:49 > 0:31:51you know, the weather, the road, the crowds.
0:31:53 > 0:31:56And you're wincing every time, you know,
0:31:56 > 0:31:58and it's difficult to watch.
0:31:58 > 0:32:03Team Sky is annihilating the field, and they are piling the pressure on.
0:32:03 > 0:32:05Look how they've destroyed the peloton...
0:32:05 > 0:32:08This time the ambition to win with a British rider,
0:32:08 > 0:32:12and win clean, seemed to be working.
0:32:13 > 0:32:17Bradley Wiggins is going to be the next leader of the tour.
0:32:17 > 0:32:20For reformed drug cheats like David Millar,
0:32:20 > 0:32:22it felt like a watershed moment.
0:32:23 > 0:32:25We mustn't forget what this sport's been through,
0:32:25 > 0:32:26and where we are now.
0:32:26 > 0:32:28I think we're the cleanest we've ever been,
0:32:28 > 0:32:31and with Brad leading the tour and Chris in second,
0:32:31 > 0:32:33and now four British stage wins...
0:32:33 > 0:32:35I mean, we're clean riders,
0:32:35 > 0:32:37and we're dominating the Tour de France.
0:32:37 > 0:32:39Bradley Wiggins punching the sky.
0:32:39 > 0:32:43We have just seen the winner of the Tour de France cross the line.
0:32:43 > 0:32:45Team Sky are bringing a British rider
0:32:45 > 0:32:48onto the Champs-Elysees as the first ever winner
0:32:48 > 0:32:49of the Tour de France.
0:32:49 > 0:32:52You can imagine what it's done for the sport of cycling in Britain...
0:32:54 > 0:32:57With the race already won,
0:32:57 > 0:33:00Wiggins could look forward to the final stage in Paris
0:33:00 > 0:33:03as a celebration.
0:33:03 > 0:33:06I really remember the whole of the Champs-Elysees,
0:33:06 > 0:33:09up Place de la Concorde, all round the back past the Louvre.
0:33:09 > 0:33:15Absolutely just covered in blanket... Draped in Union Jacks.
0:33:15 > 0:33:19- COMMENTATOR:- Look at the flags of the United Kingdom.
0:33:19 > 0:33:23Everybody had sideburns stuck on, and I remember that, thinking,
0:33:23 > 0:33:25"What's going on?!" You know?
0:33:25 > 0:33:28And it was... It was a bit mad, really, it was a bit mad.
0:33:28 > 0:33:30And it was very, very...
0:33:30 > 0:33:33It was just...brilliant.
0:33:35 > 0:33:38I'm just trying to soak every minute of today in, you know,
0:33:38 > 0:33:40as it goes along.
0:33:40 > 0:33:43It's very surreal at the moment, you know? It's incredible, yeah.
0:33:45 > 0:33:47It was a massive, massive thing.
0:33:47 > 0:33:51It's very hard to put it into any perspective, really.
0:33:51 > 0:33:54It was one of the great British sporting achievements.
0:34:00 > 0:34:03I just want to be remembered as someone who won the Tour de France,
0:34:03 > 0:34:06and was good at what he did, and... I'm a pretty honest person.
0:34:06 > 0:34:11I'm pretty open, and I like to think that what I've achieved here...
0:34:11 > 0:34:14I've been as honest as I can be, and as frank as I can be.
0:34:14 > 0:34:18Maybe not in the most articulate sense at times, but I...
0:34:20 > 0:34:24I really want this to go down in history for the right reasons.
0:34:30 > 0:34:33But as the crowd celebrated,
0:34:33 > 0:34:35there was something about Wiggins' tour
0:34:35 > 0:34:39that remained a closely-guarded secret.
0:34:39 > 0:34:43Team Sky had always boasted that they would win clean,
0:34:43 > 0:34:48without the performance-enhancing drugs that blighted previous tours.
0:34:48 > 0:34:51But Wiggins had complained of a pollen allergy,
0:34:51 > 0:34:54and had been given special permission
0:34:54 > 0:34:58to inject a banned corticosteroid before the race.
0:34:58 > 0:35:03It's what's known as a Therapeutic Use Exemption, or TUE.
0:35:03 > 0:35:06It's when there is a perceived medical need
0:35:06 > 0:35:10for a condition to be treated using a drug
0:35:10 > 0:35:14which may be performance-enhancing, but is certainly on the banned list.
0:35:14 > 0:35:18And a medical certificate has to be obtained from the doctors,
0:35:18 > 0:35:23and then it has to be passed through the medical channels at the UCI.
0:35:27 > 0:35:29The controversy is very simple -
0:35:29 > 0:35:32it's attached to the fact that these CAN be performance-enhancing drugs,
0:35:32 > 0:35:37and there's obviously a system that could be open to abuse.
0:35:38 > 0:35:42I used it in the third week of the Vuelta a Espana in 2001,
0:35:42 > 0:35:45and I'd noticed immediately that this was, kind of like, whoa!
0:35:48 > 0:35:50I'd lost a kilo immediately, and became stronger,
0:35:50 > 0:35:53and was just like, "Wow, this is..." It made EPO feel weak.
0:35:55 > 0:35:58I could see the veins all suddenly popped out.
0:35:58 > 0:36:01I felt stronger. I was like, "This is pretty crazy."
0:36:01 > 0:36:03Kind of scary.
0:36:11 > 0:36:15If you've got an athlete that's 95% ready,
0:36:15 > 0:36:19and that little 5% niggle or injury that's troubling them,
0:36:19 > 0:36:22if you can get that TUE to get him to 100%,
0:36:22 > 0:36:25yeah, of course you would in them days.
0:36:25 > 0:36:28The business you're in is to give you the edge on your opponent.
0:36:28 > 0:36:32And ultimately, at the end of the day, it's about killing them off.
0:36:32 > 0:36:34But definitely no crossing the line,
0:36:34 > 0:36:36and that's something we've never done.
0:36:36 > 0:36:39- INTERVIEWER:- So finding the gains might mean getting a TUE?
0:36:41 > 0:36:43HE CHUCKLES
0:36:43 > 0:36:47Finding the gains might be getting a TUE? Erm...
0:36:47 > 0:36:49Yes, because the rules allow you to do that.
0:36:55 > 0:36:57Do you think they were gaming the system?
0:36:57 > 0:36:59I think they were gaming the system, yeah.
0:36:59 > 0:37:01I think that's quite obvious. I think we all know that, yeah.
0:37:03 > 0:37:06It's just hugely disappointing.
0:37:06 > 0:37:08Team Sky were zero tolerance, you know?
0:37:08 > 0:37:11So you'd think a zero tolerance would mean you're not going to
0:37:11 > 0:37:16tread into that very grey area, which is cortisone use,
0:37:16 > 0:37:18because it IS performance-enhancing.
0:37:18 > 0:37:21And so when I heard that I was just, like, "Seriously?"
0:37:21 > 0:37:24It was just, kind of, a little bit of me died, to be honest with you.
0:37:24 > 0:37:26I was like, "I thought you guys were different."
0:37:27 > 0:37:32I think if an athlete is hampered, if you like, by an illness,
0:37:32 > 0:37:35and there's a medication that they can have,
0:37:35 > 0:37:39and the TUE criteria are met, then, yes, they should.
0:37:39 > 0:37:41The doctor came forward and said,
0:37:41 > 0:37:43"Look, I think we've got an issue here."
0:37:43 > 0:37:47I said, "OK, well, you know, you've got Bradley the individual,
0:37:47 > 0:37:50"you've got a doctor, you've got the consultant,
0:37:50 > 0:37:52"and if that's what we think we should do,
0:37:52 > 0:37:54"then that's what we should do."
0:37:54 > 0:37:56You know, I felt if the UCI signed this off,
0:37:56 > 0:38:03and it was all absolutely clear and above board and signed off,
0:38:03 > 0:38:06then I was comfortable with that.
0:38:09 > 0:38:11But Bradley Wiggins' use of a TUE
0:38:11 > 0:38:15would come back to haunt Brailsford and British Cycling.
0:38:20 > 0:38:24Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to London,
0:38:24 > 0:38:26and to the games of the 30th Olympiad.
0:38:31 > 0:38:34And Great Britain have got Australia in their sights.
0:38:34 > 0:38:36What a ride this is!
0:38:36 > 0:38:38The crowd are going absolutely ballistic.
0:38:38 > 0:38:40Here they come up to the line.
0:38:40 > 0:38:42Oh, look at the time!
0:38:42 > 0:38:47It's a new world record, and Great Britain have won the gold medal.
0:38:47 > 0:38:51At the London Olympics, the British team seemed unstoppable...
0:38:51 > 0:38:53- COMMENTATOR:- Who's going to get it?
0:38:53 > 0:38:56Chris Hoy gets the gold medal!
0:38:56 > 0:39:00..winning as many gold medals as Beijing four years earlier.
0:39:00 > 0:39:03The gold medal winners and Olympic champions
0:39:03 > 0:39:05are the team of Great Britain.
0:39:06 > 0:39:09The Paralympians followed suit.
0:39:09 > 0:39:12"GOD SAVE THE QUEEN" PLAYS
0:39:16 > 0:39:21By the end of the year, Brailsford had been awarded a knighthood.
0:39:26 > 0:39:27- COMMENTATOR:- It's quite emotional.
0:39:29 > 0:39:33But behind the scenes, there was less euphoria.
0:39:34 > 0:39:38Even one of Britain's most distinguished Paralympian cyclists
0:39:38 > 0:39:42had not been spared Sutton's unique management style.
0:39:42 > 0:39:45Shane was always the person
0:39:45 > 0:39:48that people didn't want to get on the wrong side of.
0:39:48 > 0:39:51It would be him that would be deciding who got what
0:39:51 > 0:39:54in terms of equipment and access to support.
0:39:54 > 0:39:56And Shane would suddenly be like,
0:39:56 > 0:39:58"I don't want any para-riders on the track at the moment."
0:39:58 > 0:40:03Anybody that stepped out of line, or whatever, would be dealt with,
0:40:03 > 0:40:07and people that spoke out, or, you know,
0:40:07 > 0:40:09went up against Shane, would be removed.
0:40:11 > 0:40:13Shane made all the decisions, really.
0:40:13 > 0:40:17And I think quite a lot of the staff were scared of him.
0:40:17 > 0:40:19And...that's the impression I got.
0:40:19 > 0:40:21Everything had to be approved by Shane,
0:40:21 > 0:40:24and certainly when I got on the bad side of him,
0:40:24 > 0:40:27he was pretty mean to me, he upset me.
0:40:27 > 0:40:29So I was scared of him.
0:40:31 > 0:40:34Shane would start to, sort of, like, cajole the athletes,
0:40:34 > 0:40:39and they would feel that they were being intimidated or bullied.
0:40:39 > 0:40:40Some of them, not all.
0:40:40 > 0:40:42Some of them welcomed it and said,
0:40:42 > 0:40:45"No, this really gets me back in line again."
0:40:45 > 0:40:48So I don't think there's any malice there.
0:40:48 > 0:40:50I don't think he meant anything wrong.
0:40:50 > 0:40:52But I got to the point after London,
0:40:52 > 0:40:54we waited till after the Olympics, then I...
0:40:54 > 0:40:55I went to Dave and said to him,
0:40:55 > 0:40:57"Listen, I can't continue."
0:41:01 > 0:41:05With the team psychiatrist expressing deep reservations
0:41:05 > 0:41:06about the head coach,
0:41:06 > 0:41:09British Cycling was forced to act.
0:41:11 > 0:41:12An internal investigation
0:41:12 > 0:41:17found evidence of fear, intimidation and bullying.
0:41:18 > 0:41:24But the report's disturbing conclusions were quietly shelved,
0:41:24 > 0:41:28and not shared with their paymasters at UK Sport.
0:41:28 > 0:41:33There was an underlying issue about the drive and focus on success,
0:41:33 > 0:41:37and had we had the full picture, we would have read in that report,
0:41:37 > 0:41:38as you can read now,
0:41:38 > 0:41:42that there was significant concerns about the culture
0:41:42 > 0:41:43within the world-class programme
0:41:43 > 0:41:45that needed to be addressed as a priority -
0:41:45 > 0:41:47the report actually says that.
0:41:50 > 0:41:53Was it an intense environment? Yeah, for sure.
0:41:53 > 0:41:57For some people, sometimes it was pretty intense, I'd imagine -
0:41:57 > 0:41:59for all of us.
0:41:59 > 0:42:03But I don't think it was one where it was based around...
0:42:03 > 0:42:05It wasn't a fear-based organisation.
0:42:05 > 0:42:09I'm not... I wouldn't run an organisation with fear and bullying.
0:42:12 > 0:42:15To me, you know, you can rule out the whole fear...
0:42:17 > 0:42:21..you know. Actually, I love that word "fear,"
0:42:21 > 0:42:23when you're looking at a bloke here, 60 years of age,
0:42:23 > 0:42:2665 kilos, and people fear you? You've got to be kidding me!
0:42:26 > 0:42:29Come on! You know?
0:42:29 > 0:42:32No, I don't think fear comes into it at all.
0:42:32 > 0:42:35I think Dave just set the bar high.
0:42:38 > 0:42:40Despite the reservations
0:42:40 > 0:42:43about Shane Sutton and his management style,
0:42:43 > 0:42:48when Dave Brailsford left to concentrate on Team Sky in 2014,
0:42:48 > 0:42:51British Cycling decided there was only one person
0:42:51 > 0:42:54who could take over at the top.
0:42:54 > 0:42:57Who can we turn to? Shane.
0:43:02 > 0:43:04With Brailsford out of the picture,
0:43:04 > 0:43:08it was now down to Sutton to achieve the almost impossible -
0:43:08 > 0:43:14dominating a third Olympics in a row at the 2016 Rio Games.
0:43:20 > 0:43:23At the last qualifying event before the games,
0:43:23 > 0:43:25the simmering tensions within the squad
0:43:25 > 0:43:28were about to explode into full public view.
0:43:34 > 0:43:36This is the mixed zone where you can interview.
0:43:36 > 0:43:39Straight after the race, you can interview the cyclists.
0:43:39 > 0:43:44The noise is intense, people are cheering the next race on the track.
0:43:44 > 0:43:47It's a great place to be, cos you get the raw emotion
0:43:47 > 0:43:51of what it feels like to have, usually, in British Cycling's case,
0:43:51 > 0:43:53have just won a race.
0:43:53 > 0:43:55We were pretty much over the line in all the events
0:43:55 > 0:43:59apart from women's team sprint.
0:43:59 > 0:44:00Yeah, and we needed to beat the French,
0:44:00 > 0:44:03or put a couple of teams between us and the French.
0:44:03 > 0:44:08The women's sprint team of Jess Varnish and Katy Marchant
0:44:08 > 0:44:10were under intense pressure
0:44:10 > 0:44:14to qualify for their place in the Rio squad.
0:44:14 > 0:44:16CHEERING
0:44:25 > 0:44:27Although they came first,
0:44:27 > 0:44:32their margin of victory isn't good enough to qualify for the Olympics.
0:44:35 > 0:44:39And it sort of dawned on us, and it dawned on them...
0:44:39 > 0:44:41they weren't going to go to Rio.
0:44:42 > 0:44:46Here we had two sprint cyclists who knew,
0:44:46 > 0:44:51amid all the glory and euphoria and preparation for the Rio Games,
0:44:51 > 0:44:53they knew they wouldn't be going.
0:44:53 > 0:44:57And instead of just standing there and saying,
0:44:57 > 0:44:59"We're really disappointed,"
0:44:59 > 0:45:02or even just saying they were embarrassed,
0:45:02 > 0:45:06they did the unthinkable, which was they blamed their coaches.
0:45:06 > 0:45:09Well, Jess, to put in a personal best as a duo
0:45:09 > 0:45:12and not make that qualification, it must be a very bitter
0:45:12 > 0:45:14feeling at the moment - bittersweet.
0:45:14 > 0:45:16Completely bitter, to be honest. Obviously...
0:45:16 > 0:45:19We had two women who were basically saying
0:45:19 > 0:45:21they'd wasted their lives.
0:45:21 > 0:45:24As Jess said, people above us have put...
0:45:24 > 0:45:26Have made the complications for us,
0:45:26 > 0:45:28and put us in the situation that we're in now.
0:45:28 > 0:45:29Jess Varnish was saying,
0:45:29 > 0:45:33"I'm 25, I've put my life in the hands of my coaches,
0:45:33 > 0:45:36"and they've screwed me over."
0:45:36 > 0:45:38We'll sort of go back now and chat to our coaches
0:45:38 > 0:45:42about a different strategy. We don't know what that will be.
0:45:42 > 0:45:45Well, it's pretty strong stuff there from Katy and from Jess...
0:45:45 > 0:45:47Yeah, Jess is probably more frustrated
0:45:47 > 0:45:50with her own performances over the last couple of years, I'd say.
0:45:50 > 0:45:52And, you know, emotions are running high.
0:45:52 > 0:45:54They've done a brilliant ride today...
0:45:54 > 0:45:56It's pretty simple - she wasn't progressing,
0:45:56 > 0:46:00and she wasn't going to medal at the Games.
0:46:00 > 0:46:02There was no need to take her to the Games.
0:46:02 > 0:46:05And to get narrow, as I said, to get better one-to-one coaching,
0:46:05 > 0:46:07you need to narrow your squad as soon as possible.
0:46:07 > 0:46:10And the coaching team felt that straight after the Worlds,
0:46:10 > 0:46:14you know, Jess was surplus to requirements.
0:46:16 > 0:46:20Within weeks, Jess Varnish had been dropped from the elite squad.
0:46:23 > 0:46:26But she didn't go quietly.
0:46:31 > 0:46:34British Cycling technical director Shane Sutton is accused of sexism.
0:46:34 > 0:46:36She claims she was the subject of sexist comments
0:46:36 > 0:46:38by the technical director.
0:46:38 > 0:46:40Varnish claims that the British Cycling chief
0:46:40 > 0:46:44told her to "go and have a baby." Sutton denies any wrongdoing...
0:46:45 > 0:46:48It made people wonder, is British Cycling sexist?
0:46:48 > 0:46:51Is this how you deal with someone that you've been treating
0:46:51 > 0:46:53as a serious athlete?
0:46:53 > 0:46:55Suddenly you're telling them,
0:46:55 > 0:46:59"It's OK, your life's in ruins, but you can go and have a baby."
0:46:59 > 0:47:01What's going on?
0:47:01 > 0:47:04Did you tell her to move on and have a baby after that?
0:47:04 > 0:47:06Definitely not!
0:47:06 > 0:47:08Definitely not.
0:47:08 > 0:47:11Yeah, I think there's just been a lot made of that,
0:47:11 > 0:47:16and I actually laugh about it when I think about it now.
0:47:16 > 0:47:18Did I tell her to lose some timber?
0:47:18 > 0:47:21Yes. If that's what you want to ask next.
0:47:21 > 0:47:22For sure.
0:47:26 > 0:47:29Varnish was not the first woman to raise sexism
0:47:29 > 0:47:32as an issue in British Cycling.
0:47:32 > 0:47:34Others had complained to Sutton
0:47:34 > 0:47:37about the poor funding for women road racers
0:47:37 > 0:47:39compared to the men's team.
0:47:41 > 0:47:44Shane sort of shouted at me and told me I was being a troublemaker,
0:47:44 > 0:47:46and I should be grateful, and there's loads of funding
0:47:46 > 0:47:49for women's cycling, and I should shut up,
0:47:49 > 0:47:52and, you know, I was a rider, not a manager.
0:47:52 > 0:47:55I was a bit upset. I don't like being shouted at, and...
0:47:55 > 0:47:59But, you know, that was what Shane was like.
0:47:59 > 0:48:01He's hot or cold, and there's some aspects of his job
0:48:01 > 0:48:02that he was very, very good at,
0:48:02 > 0:48:05but possibly people management wasn't one of them.
0:48:07 > 0:48:11But the allegations of unacceptable behaviour
0:48:11 > 0:48:13by Sutton went much further.
0:48:13 > 0:48:18I heard on a number of occasions him referring to us as "gimps,"
0:48:18 > 0:48:21which was a new one for me, I must admit.
0:48:21 > 0:48:22You know, it would be like,
0:48:22 > 0:48:25"Oh, we don't want any of the gimps on the track today,"
0:48:25 > 0:48:28or something like that. But it just became the norm.
0:48:28 > 0:48:31So, we were right at the bottom of the food chain, if you like.
0:48:33 > 0:48:36Yeah, I definitely wouldn't run around the building
0:48:36 > 0:48:40as performance director making reference to athletes in that tone.
0:48:40 > 0:48:42So, you know...
0:48:43 > 0:48:47People can make what they want of that, but, you know,
0:48:47 > 0:48:48I very much respected them.
0:48:52 > 0:48:54It may well be that Shane uses language
0:48:54 > 0:48:57he's not aware is inappropriate.
0:48:57 > 0:48:59But it was too much.
0:48:59 > 0:49:00It was too much for Shane to take,
0:49:00 > 0:49:03it was too much for British Cycling to take.
0:49:03 > 0:49:06So he stepped down, there was nowhere else for him to go.
0:49:06 > 0:49:09Just 100 days before the Rio Olympics, British cycling,
0:49:09 > 0:49:12one of our most successful sports, is in turmoil.
0:49:12 > 0:49:15Shane Sutton, the team's technical director
0:49:15 > 0:49:17has resigned after allegations of discrimination,
0:49:17 > 0:49:20including using offensive language...
0:49:21 > 0:49:24I was hurt by what was said, you know?
0:49:24 > 0:49:27I'd walk across hot coals for them riders, and the staff.
0:49:27 > 0:49:31I would do anything that it took to achieve success
0:49:31 > 0:49:33for them as athletes.
0:49:35 > 0:49:40Shane didn't have the skills to be a leader and manager of people.
0:49:40 > 0:49:44Shane had technical cycling skills that were valued by the sport.
0:49:44 > 0:49:48I think it was a wrong decision of the sport to position him in a role
0:49:48 > 0:49:51which was beyond his capabilities.
0:49:56 > 0:49:59The Rio Olympics, 2016.
0:50:02 > 0:50:05- COMMENTATOR:- Laura Trott less than half a lap now
0:50:05 > 0:50:07to Olympic gold as they come up towards the line.
0:50:07 > 0:50:09Laura Trott's finished now!
0:50:09 > 0:50:14It's a special, special Olympic moment for Great Britain.
0:50:14 > 0:50:18Britain could take pride in the performance of British cyclists
0:50:18 > 0:50:21who once again dominated the medal table.
0:50:21 > 0:50:24Here he comes into the finishing straight.
0:50:24 > 0:50:26Up towards the line, Jason Kenny...!
0:50:28 > 0:50:31But as the squad that had been carefully hand-picked
0:50:31 > 0:50:35and groomed by Sutton powered to success,
0:50:35 > 0:50:38it was now clear those victories had come at a price.
0:50:40 > 0:50:46The fallout to Shane leaving and the accusations made were enormous.
0:50:46 > 0:50:49There was doubt that the fairy story of British Cycling
0:50:49 > 0:50:51really was a fairy story,
0:50:51 > 0:50:54or was it built on methods that are unacceptable?
0:50:55 > 0:50:58We like our Olympians to be pure,
0:50:58 > 0:51:01we like the way we get to winning medals to be pure,
0:51:01 > 0:51:03we don't like the idea that it's tainted.
0:51:03 > 0:51:07And in a way, what we should all do is have even more admiration
0:51:07 > 0:51:10- for the people who go through the system.- I- wouldn't do that.
0:51:10 > 0:51:13I mean, you're just giving your life to an organisation.
0:51:13 > 0:51:15I mean, we laugh at people who give their lives to cults,
0:51:15 > 0:51:17but it's not that dissimilar.
0:51:29 > 0:51:32As for Sir David Brailsford -
0:51:32 > 0:51:35after leaving British Cycling in 2014,
0:51:35 > 0:51:40he had fulfilled his childhood dream of dominating the Tour de France.
0:51:42 > 0:51:44It was a stunning accomplishment,
0:51:44 > 0:51:50as Team Sky secured a record four victories for British riders
0:51:50 > 0:51:51in just five years.
0:51:54 > 0:51:58But even Brailsford had not escaped the media storm.
0:52:00 > 0:52:02- TV PRESENTER:- 'What's to become of a cycling superhero?
0:52:02 > 0:52:06'Since the hacking of his medical records, Sir Bradley Wiggins...
0:52:06 > 0:52:08'Tour de France winner Sir Bradley Wiggins has found himself
0:52:08 > 0:52:11having to deny the use of a banned substance...
0:52:11 > 0:52:14'Wiggins is facing questions after the leak last week
0:52:14 > 0:52:16'of three steroid...'
0:52:16 > 0:52:18With the revelation that Bradley Wiggins
0:52:18 > 0:52:22had received permission to take a banned corticosteroid at the Tour,
0:52:22 > 0:52:25there were inevitably new questions to be answered.
0:52:26 > 0:52:30We have to show and provide evidence from a specialist,
0:52:30 > 0:52:35that they will then scrutinise, with three independent doctors,
0:52:35 > 0:52:37and authorise you to take this product.
0:52:37 > 0:52:39And at that point then, once I have a certificate
0:52:39 > 0:52:41from the World Anti-Doping Agency
0:52:41 > 0:52:45and the sports governing body, only then do you take the medication.
0:52:45 > 0:52:47Now, the trouble with this particular drug
0:52:47 > 0:52:50is that lots of people say it is also a performance enhancer.
0:52:50 > 0:52:52David Millar said it was the most potent drug
0:52:52 > 0:52:53that he's ever taken.
0:52:53 > 0:52:56Yeah, but I think they were abusing that drug,
0:52:56 > 0:52:59and this was to cure a medical condition.
0:53:01 > 0:53:03But the questions continued to rack up...
0:53:03 > 0:53:06- TV NEWS PRESENTER:- 'No records concerning a mystery package
0:53:06 > 0:53:08'delivered for Sir Bradley Wiggins...'
0:53:08 > 0:53:11..with the revelation of an unidentified package
0:53:11 > 0:53:14couriered to Team Sky for a race in 2011.
0:53:16 > 0:53:19There had been a delivery to Team Sky at the Dauphine in 2011,
0:53:19 > 0:53:22which was in a jiffy bag, and no-one knew what this was.
0:53:22 > 0:53:26Sir Bradley, we're just wondering if we can have a quick chat with you?
0:53:26 > 0:53:28Sir Bradley, could you tell us about the mystery package?
0:53:28 > 0:53:31Could you give us some light on that, please?
0:53:31 > 0:53:35There was the question then of what was in it, who it was given to,
0:53:35 > 0:53:39and because we don't have the answers, you can...
0:53:39 > 0:53:42It is open to speculation.
0:53:42 > 0:53:44It's sad, because, you know,
0:53:44 > 0:53:47Brad achieved many great things in his career.
0:53:47 > 0:53:51Personally, I believe he achieved those things clean.
0:53:51 > 0:53:55But...these questions...sit there.
0:53:58 > 0:54:03Those unanswered questions now came to a head at the House of Commons.
0:54:06 > 0:54:08No-one is above questioning.
0:54:08 > 0:54:09That's what Parliament is all about.
0:54:11 > 0:54:14Questioning people in authority, people of responsibility,
0:54:14 > 0:54:16significant people that exercise a lot of power
0:54:16 > 0:54:20and influence over a sport, in this case.
0:54:20 > 0:54:25The coaches, who between them had helped deliver 42 Olympic medals,
0:54:25 > 0:54:3171 Paralympic medals, and four Tour de France wins for British riders,
0:54:31 > 0:54:35are now summoned to testify before the Select Committee's inquiry
0:54:35 > 0:54:37into doping in sport.
0:54:38 > 0:54:42That is the moment where the tragedy reaches its climax.
0:54:44 > 0:54:48These two national heroes, if you like,
0:54:48 > 0:54:52people who have raised British sport to exalted levels...
0:54:52 > 0:54:55Sir David, thank you very much for giving the time to come
0:54:55 > 0:54:58- and give evidence to us today. - A pleasure.
0:54:58 > 0:55:02..being brought in front of the MPs and ritually humiliated.
0:55:02 > 0:55:06I understand where your questioning is coming from,
0:55:06 > 0:55:09but all I can do is tell you what I was told...
0:55:09 > 0:55:11Neither Team Sky nor British Cycling
0:55:11 > 0:55:13were able to answer the fundamental questions.
0:55:13 > 0:55:15If this letter allows me to do so,
0:55:15 > 0:55:17then I'd be more than happy to tell you what I was told.
0:55:17 > 0:55:21Well, I think this letter does, in which case we'd all love to know.
0:55:21 > 0:55:23Well, Dr Freeman told me that it was Fluimucil
0:55:23 > 0:55:24that was in the package...
0:55:24 > 0:55:28So this investigation has led to more and more questions, and often,
0:55:28 > 0:55:31the teams have not been able to satisfactorily answer them.
0:55:31 > 0:55:37Is there any evidence of what was in this package?
0:55:37 > 0:55:39I can only relate what I've been told.
0:55:39 > 0:55:43- So all you know is what Dr Freeman told you?- Correct.
0:55:45 > 0:55:48There's a huge loss of credibility.
0:55:48 > 0:55:53To me, it's what I would call an emperor with no clothes moment.
0:55:53 > 0:55:55What he does is so much based on credibility,
0:55:55 > 0:55:59it's based on, "Believe in me and what I do."
0:55:59 > 0:56:01You'll see there's no wrongdoing.
0:56:01 > 0:56:04Well, I hope that will be the case, Mr Sutton.
0:56:04 > 0:56:08And I'm upset that you question the integrity of our team,
0:56:08 > 0:56:12which, to me, led by Sir Dave Brailsford, was the greatest...
0:56:12 > 0:56:16IS the greatest sporting team, not only in British history -
0:56:16 > 0:56:18it's in line with the All Blacks,
0:56:18 > 0:56:21and I'm quite upset that you feel that way.
0:56:23 > 0:56:27It is almost Shakespearean, because you have a sense of guys
0:56:27 > 0:56:30who are driven by forces within them that they can't really control.
0:56:30 > 0:56:35They're driven by the need to win, the need for success.
0:56:35 > 0:56:37- COMMENTATOR:- Jason Kenny's got this.
0:56:37 > 0:56:40And Jason Kenny wins the gold medal.
0:56:40 > 0:56:42And the gold medal goes to Great Britain,
0:56:42 > 0:56:44the Olympic champions again!
0:56:46 > 0:56:50It's also something that we should all reflect upon,
0:56:50 > 0:56:55because do we want an era where we win everything,
0:56:55 > 0:56:57but there is a human cost to pay?
0:56:57 > 0:57:00It's a golden hat-trick in Rio!
0:57:00 > 0:57:04Or do we want to go back to the era when plucky Brits turned up
0:57:04 > 0:57:06and finished 14th?
0:57:06 > 0:57:08Do we want that?
0:57:12 > 0:57:16People think that this is what it takes to win,
0:57:16 > 0:57:18you've got to have this brutal, sort of,
0:57:18 > 0:57:21atmosphere to be able to win.
0:57:21 > 0:57:24And it's just the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard.
0:57:27 > 0:57:29As long as it's not sexist, racist, bullying,
0:57:29 > 0:57:32I'm kind of game for it being tough as hell,
0:57:32 > 0:57:34because that's what makes the best athletes.
0:57:36 > 0:57:41It takes a certain kind of system to be compassionately ruthless,
0:57:41 > 0:57:44because it's always ruthless.
0:57:52 > 0:57:54It worries me at the minute where we're at,
0:57:54 > 0:57:58in terms of it becoming too soft, really.
0:57:58 > 0:58:02Life's not about being soft.
0:58:02 > 0:58:06Life's tough. That's the reality of life.
0:58:06 > 0:58:08And I want us to win.
0:58:08 > 0:58:11I want to be proud of a nation where you can go,
0:58:11 > 0:58:13"Actually, we're a nation of winners."
0:58:13 > 0:58:15And I want to be part of that.
0:58:15 > 0:58:17And a nation of gallant winners, brilliant.
0:58:17 > 0:58:19I don't want to be a nation of losers.