British MPs set to quiz Brailsford over doping

TE A M Sk y pr i ncipa l Dave Brailsford will appear before British politicia ns as part of a n inquir y into a nt i-doping pract ices i n c ycl i ng, it was revea led yesterday.

T he Cu lt u re, Media a nd Spor t selec t c ommit te e i s look i ng i nt o how Br it i s h Cycl i ng ha s ha nd led a nt idoping issues and the use of t herapeutic use exemptions (TUEs).

Brailsford is likely to be a sked about Sk y ’s Brad ley Wiggins being granted three TUEs for the banned anti-inflammatory drug triamcinolone to treat a pollen allergy.

“Sir Dave Brailsford has been one of the most senior figures in British cycling over the last 10 years and we thought it important to speak to him as part of our inquiry into how the sport has handled antidoping issues and the ethics around TUEs,” committee chairman Damian Collins told the Times.

“We are now talking to Team Sky about a date when he can come and speak to us,” the Conservative MP added.

Wiggins’s use of triamcinolone was revealed following a leak of his personal medical data by presumed Russian cyber hackers the Fancy Bears in September.

Wiggins, a five-time Oly mpic cha mpion, had t h r e e T U E s f or t he s u b s t a nc e approved by world cycling’s governing body the UCI prior to the 2011 and 2012 editions of the Tour de France and the 2013 Giro d’Ita lia.

There is no suggest ion he broke any rules and Wiggins, who won the Tour in 2012, has denied any wrongdoing.

UK Anti-Doping is investigating a llegations of wrongdoi ng a f ter repor t s t hat a pack a ge wa s del ivere d to Team Sky during the 2011 Criterium du Dauphine, which Wiggins won.

Sk y, Br it i sh Cycl i ng a nd Wiggins are cooperating with t he probe.

British MPs will also interview British Cycling’s chairman, Bob Howden, and ethics chief, George Gilbert, at a December 19 hearing, where World Anti-Doping Agency president Craig Reedie will give evidence.