British Cycling upholds Jess Varnish's complaint against Shane Sutton

Sutton resigned on April 27 over allegations of sexism levelled by Varnish and further claims he called members of the Paralympic team 'gimps' and 'wobblies'

Varnish's complaint was investigated internally by British Cycling, with the findings reported to its board on Friday (Getty)

Jess Varnish's complaint of "inappropriate and discriminatory language" against former British Cycling technical director Shane Sutton has been upheld, the national governing body has announced.

Sutton resigned on April 27, 100 days prior to the Rio Olympics, over allegations of sexism levelled by Varnish and further claims he called members of the Paralympic team "gimps" and "wobblies".

The Australian rejected the specific allegations, but quit his role as technical director to avoid any distraction leading up to the Rio Olympics.

Varnish's complaint was investigated internally by British Cycling, with the findings reported to its board on Friday.

A British Cycling statement read: "Following an internal investigation, the British Cycling board has upheld an allegation made by Jess Varnish that former technical director Shane Sutton had used inappropriate and discriminatory language.

"The board wishes to put on record its sincere regret that this happened."

The independent review into the culture of British Cycling, commissioned by the national governing body and elite sport funding body UK Sport, is ongoing.

PA.