Jess Varnish questions Team GB omission

British Cycling decided to not extend her contract a month after she and Katy Marchant narrowly failed to qualify for the team sprint event in Rio at the World Championships in London.

In an interview, technical director Shane Sutton said the 25-year-old Varnish, from Halesowen, was "too old" and there was "no point wasting" any more government funding on her.

Varnish, however, hit back in an explosive interview in which she set out a chain of events that forced Sutton to resign and an investigation to begin into a culture of bullying within the British squad.

Since then, Varnish has been training, at her own expense in Australia, but she will return to the UK later this week for a meeting with the team's new performance director Andy Harrison.

In a statement posted on her website, she said: "My immediate priority is to win back my place on the British Cycling team, ahead of the 2016 Olympic Games.

"It was to prove that I was, and still am, good enough to win medals for Great Britain."

Varnish, who has won seven medals for Great Britain since 2010, also revealed that she has spoken to British Cycling and UK Sport.

It's the government agency that funds British elite sport, about the allegations of bullying that she made last month, and she has stood by them.

The sprinter told the Daily Mail that the 58-year-old Sutton had said she was "too fat" and should "go and have a baby."

That prompted two other riders to come forward and reveal insensitive remarks the Australian coach is alleged to have made about Paralympic riders.

Others, such as Nicole Cooke and Victoria Pendleton, came forward to add they too had experienced similar treatment during their glittering careers.

After days of mounting claims, that included suggestions of financial impropriety, Sutton stepped down, leaving Harrison in charge and British Cycling's chief executive Ian Drake badly damaged.

Varnish has kept her own counsel since then, but her new statement re-opens the debate on why her contract was not renewed in the first place.

Her camp clearly feels it is because she publicly criticised the coaching staff for poor selection during the two-year qualifying process for the Rio Games.

Injuries and experimental choices throughout 2014 and 2015, left the British pair with too much to do overhaul the French in the final two legs of the 10-race qualification, .

It meant they missed out on the last European spot available despite finishing fifth at the world championships, a place higher than France.

British Cycling had said Varnish was dropped for entirely objective, performance-related reasons, and that it has shared those with her.

But the rider disagrees, pointing out that she has been the most consistent British female sprinter since London 2012.

It earned the team its places in the Olympic individual sprint and keirin competitions and never failed one of British Cycling's monthly performance reviews.

Varnish can also prove that in her preferred position as the rider who accelerates away from the start line and rides the first lap in front in the two-lap event.

She never lost to her French counterpart and was consistently on podium pace throughout qualification - GB's problems came in the final lap.

Furthermore, her supporters dispute that she is finished at 25, as many other riders, including Pendleton and Sir Chris Hoy, have won medals into their 30s.

Shanaze Reade has retained her contract, despite being two years older than Varnish, with a goal of qualifying for Tokyo 2020, when she will be nearly 32.

Her statement continued: "I hope that on hearing my case, and with the knowledge that I have been doing the best I can under the circumstances to maintain my fitness on the track.

"Andy Harrison and British Cycling will give me the chance to get back on the British cycling programme ahead of selection for Rio.

"It is been a dream for me ever since London 2012 to compete and be successful in Rio."

A British Cycling spokesman said in a statement: "The selection criteria for Rio 2016 were agreed with the British Olympic Association and the British Paralympic Association.

"We cannot comment on the chances of any individual, hoping to be selected for either the Olympics or the Paralympics before the relevant selection panels meet."