By Kerry Purget
  

  English hill climber Perry Hazelton has launched an astonishing attack on team bosses barely days before he is due to compete in the Perm Tour.
  
  Poised to line up alongside his team mates for the Gradient Levellers team, Hazelton was cutting in his remarks as he blasted team management for putting results ahead of rider welfare.
  
  "They've got it all wrong. It's all about turning up for high profile events," Hazelton said.
  
  "Most of the time, we're unprepared and it can be dangerous when it comes to a tour like Perm
  
  "Conditions can get pretty rough out there, and it's only a matter of time before something goes dreadfully wrong."
  
  Hazelton would not point

fingers directly at specific members of upper management, but in a thinly veiled attack at team principal Tim Johnson, he claimed that the "boss" takes better care of his dogs then his riders.
  
  Johnson is known to rear a litter of prize winning corgis, and was recently seen walking them near the team's training base.
  
  Hazelton also criticised the team's medical and training methods, stating that injured riders were not rehabilitated properly before being forced back into professional competition.
  
  "You have these riders at the highest level of racing, you'd expect them to be well oiled racing machines.
  
  "But no, besides perhaps a few of the favored riders, we're pretty much treated as pieces of meat.
  
  "It's disgusting. Barbaric even."
  
  He went on

to reveal that he had been laid low with a virus since the previous week, but not a single member of staff had called to inquire about his condition.
  
  "I turn up at the complex and then I see that I've been signed up for Perm," Hazelton explained. "That's it. I wasn't even asked if I was ready to go."
  
  Hazelton's scathing remarks will surely rankle the Gradient Levellers team, as they are set to embark on a difficult run of races. Team stalwart Tito Vera and veteran Frerik van Fessum are strong contenders at Perm.
  
  However, the rider that the team bosses will most likely look to will be Armenian sprinter Nicodemus Balanchine. The 27 year old gun has already had one win this season, at Valladolid - León and will be keen to add to his already impressive resume.
  
  The Perm Tour will kick off in Russia on Day 41.