recent months have been the most challenging of his leadershi

Sir Chris Hoy and Sir Dave Brailsford have praised Ian Drake after British Cyclings chief executive announced he will step down in April.Drakes association with the national governing body began in 1995 and he has been chief executive since 2009. But he quits after a year of highs and lows.Great Britain topped cyclings medal table at the Rio Olympics and Paralympics, but there have been numerous controversies too, including an ongoing investigation into British Cycling and Team Sky by UK Anti-Doping over allegations of wrongdoing within cycling.Both the racing team and the governing body deny any wrongdoing. In a statement, Drake, who will remain in position to give time for his successor to be appointed, said: Some time ago I made the decision that the Rio Games would be my last as CEO of British Cycling.I believe that the end of this Olympic cycle is the natural moment for a new CEO to take the organisation forward into the Tokyo Games and beyond.Drake can celebrate many successes during his tenure as cycling has become Britains most successful Olympic sport, winning seven out of 10 gold medals on the track at Beijing 2008 and London 2012 and six out of 10 in August in Rio.Sir Bradley Wiggins became the first British Tour winner in 2012, in the 99th edition, with Chris Froome subsequently winning the race three times.Meanwhile, British Cycling now has 129,000 members.Six-time Olympic champion Hoy said: It was his vision to connect elite success with inspiration to participation, instilling in all athletes the awareness that it was not enough to win medals, but that we also need to inspire people to ride their bikes.Team Sky principal Brailsford, British Cycling performance director until April 2014, said: Ians legacy to cycling has been huge. He has been the architect of the grassroots revolution of the sport over the last decade and led British cycling to unprecedented success in Rio. His passion for cycling has shone through in everything he has done - from campaigning for safer cycling through to promoting mass participation events.He has led the way in building cycling facilities and infrastructure and under his leadership British Cycling membership has grown to the largest in its history.He has done all this with the highest standards of professionalism and integrity and the sport owes him a huge debt of gratitude.Brailsfords comments come at a time when British Cyclings relationship with Team Sky is under intense scrutiny.Team Sky and British Cycling have been intertwined since the road teams inception in 2009 and first season in 2010, with many staff and riders employed by both teams.Team Sky are involved in a furore following the decision to seek permission for Wiggins to use otherwise banned substances, and Brailsfords squad is now under investigation by UKAD.It is the latest crisis engulfing the sport in Britain in a 2016 mixed with great success and bitter controversy.Drake in recent weeks has secured an eight-year sponsorship agreement with banking giant HSBC, replacing Sky as British Cyclings lead sponsor - the media company remains sponsor of the professional road team - and been part of the team which won the bid to bring the 2019 Road World Championships to Yorkshire. However, recent months have been the most challenging of his leadership.Shane Sutton left his role as British Cycling technical director in April, 100 days prior to the Rio Olympics, following discrimination allegations.Sutton denies the allegations, which prompted an independent review. The review, commissioned by British Cycling and UK Sport, is scheduled to conclude imminently.The news of Drakes departure means British Cycling is now searching for two leading figures. British Cycling on Wednesday announced it was beginning the recruitment process for a new performance director. And now it is also searching for a chief executive.Drake added: All organisations, particularly those operating at the highest level of sport, periodically require new leadership to take them to greater heights and tackle their new challenges - now is the right moment for both myself and British Cycling to move on. Wholesale NBA Jerseys China . 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Scott Kazmir allowed four hits in seven shutout innings, Michael Brantley hit a two-run homer in a three-run first inning and the Indians maintained their hold on an AL wild-card spot with a 4-1 win over the Houston Astros on Saturday night. * This post contains spoilers. The biggest question lingering from the first episode of Pitch, was how sustainable is a television show like this? In fairness, thats a question most television shows face. I doubt people would have bet that Greys Anatomy would get to a 13th season, and by the way, the scripted program is still finding new material for the team at?Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital.Pitch invests in its characters backstories and relationships as a means of augmenting the center story of its lead character, Ginny Baker, who is trying to make it in the big leagues. The result is a rich, full series that provides additional options for character development.In other words, Pitch is deep, yall.Plenty happened in the latest episode, which is aptly titled The Interim, but what really takes center stage is Baker struggling with the added media attention from Ginsanity -- the corny cousin of Linsanity from 2012 -- and how to use (or not to use) her elevated platform. No one can stop talking about her. The media wants her to comment on a sexual assault case in Florida; and a video of the Padres manager, Al, making sexist comments about her surfaces.Through it all, she insists that shes one of the guys and tells her agent, Im a ballplayer, like shes Monica from Love & Basketball yelling at Quincy.Ginny Baker, however, is not just one of the guys, no matter how much she wants to be, and thats not really what this is about anyway. Nestled within the conversations between Baker and her agent, teammate Mike Lawsons rousing pregame speech, and the probable firing of Al (Dan Lauria) is some exploration of identity politics.The Interim quietly asks, what does it really mean to be going through this experience as a woman, like Ginny Baker? What are her responsibilities? What does it mean to be a man? What does it mean to be a captain? Are you still a good man if youre politically incorrect? And what matters more ... intent or impact?The answers to those questions are the beating heart of the show Pitch strives to be. During a set visit in August, executive producer and showrunner Kevin Falls said Pitch was about the human condition. Identity politics are absolutely part of what make up the human experrience, and the series certainly does not shy away from that.ddddddddddddWhile sitting across from real-life late show host Jimmy Kimmel, fictional character Ginny Baker says, It seems like Im making a statement just by existing lately.Thats a loaded statement, and something that is surely relatable to many people watching the show. Baker is caught between a rock and a hard place. She desperately wants to fit in with her teammates and play baseball, but she also is having to navigate a previously unwalked path, all the while attempting to hold on to her precarious situation as a recently called-up pitcher who could be sent down from the majors at any moment.The struggle around identity, however, is not just limited to Baker. Her story is just the most prominent.In an interesting scene, Padres owner Frank Reid (Bob Balaban) discusses manager Als fate with Oscar Arguella (Mark Consuelos), the GM. Reid comments to Arguella that in addition to his getting hired because hes good at his job, he also looks like Spanish Superman.Im Mexican, Arguella responds.A few moments later when Reid tells Arguella he doesnt have him over for dinner because he doesnt get close to his employees, Arguella says, I thought it was because Im Mexican.This is interesting, not only because Reid admits to not being color-blind and implies that he values a perspective of someone who is not a mirror reflection of himself, but also because Arguella has clearly questioned why he hasnt been invited to his boss place for dinner. His own ethnicity is clearly salient to him, and his admission leaves viewers wondering what happened in his life to make him take pause at Reids distance.This is an important and palpable moment at a time when American society struggles with wanting to be color-blind and how to deal with racial and ethnic diversity. This is not unlike the sentiment Ginny is navigating in trying to decide whether her gender matters. Of course it matters, and so does race.What doesnt matter is how much we try to mute pieces of ourselves. They shine through anyway.Its the response that counts. ' ' '