British Cycling's Stephen Park to seek advice from Sutton and Brailsford

The former British sailing chief is in Hong Kong for the Track World Championships, which began on Wednesday, to start his role after being appointed British Cycling's first performance director since Brailsford departed to concentrate on Team Sky three years ago.

Sutton was promoted to technical director when Brailsford departed but left British Cycling a year ago under allegations of discrimination, which he denies.

An independent review into the culture of British Cycling's world-class performance programme, established in the wake of the allegations, is now scheduled to report in May.

A draft version leaked to the Daily Mail last month suggested Sutton was a confidant and consultant to British Cycling riders and staff in the lead-up to last August's Rio Olympics.

Park has no plans to take steps to prevent riders and staff from continuing to contact Sutton and will be in touch with the Australian himself.

"Over the years we've got great experience within Great Britain for cycling," Park said.

"I'm not here to replace Shane Sutton, Dave Brailsford, Peter Keen or whoever. I'll be doing the job in a different way. But equally I'm not here to dismiss any of the lessons or advice that they're able to offer.

"I will try to pick up with some of those people and get some different perspectives.

"Shane is clearly well respected for his coaching abilities and he's got an incredible track record.

"So, it would be silly for me not to have some level of engagement with him, if that's possible and he's willing to do that.

"Shane doesn't work for British Cycling at the moment. But equally nobody's sending any messages to riders or staff saying they shouldn't communicate with him."

Park believes it is only natural to lean on expert advice, but if Sutton's status changes and he is employed by a rival nation or professional team, that casual relationship with British Cycling would likely cease.

"I fully expect there will be sailors on the phone or sending me messages or texts looking for input or support over the next few months," Park added.

"I certainly am not proposing to respond saying 'I'm sorry, I don't work with sailing any more, have a nice life'."

British Cycling is already making steps to address the anticipated outcome of the review, the leaked draft of which was scathing.

Some have suggested the contributions to the review are not representative of their experience of British Cycling and it could change prior to its official publication.

"From my perspective the sooner there are some conclusions, the sooner there is an opportunity to turn the page and move forward, then that would be better," Park said.

Park has little time to lose, with three years to go until the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

British Cycling head coach Iain Dyer last November said it would be unlikely a non-cycling specialist would be able to grasp the full extent of the role in the current cycle. Park believes he can.

The 49-year-old Scot said: "It doesn't surprise me that Iain made those comments. I think if someone had asked me the same question about sailing last November I would probably have given a similar response.

"But the reality is when you're immersed in something you can get yourself up to speed fairly quickly."

Park will delay decisions such as whether to appoint a technical director until he is fully established at British Cycling's Manchester headquarters.

He will have a watching brief here and has sprint coach Justin Grace - at home continuing his recovery from liver transplant surgery last autumn - on hand to answer "daft questions".

"He's my phone a friend," Park said.

Many of Britain's established stars are absent on extended breaks post-Rio, notably six-time Olympic champion Jason Kenny and his wife Laura Kenny (nee Trott), who is pregnant.

Park believes the rest is important for those wishing to continue on to Tokyo.

"I think that refreshing part is what's really important for them to rekindle that inspiration and that passion for performance," he said.

"Because unless you have got that in spades, when it comes to the final race that is what is going to determine whether you win gold or not.

"They've had plenty of fantastic performances, they certainly don't need to turn up for the t-shirt, do they?"