Accusations upset Wiggins

– British cycling great Bradley Wiggins (above) said it was “so sad” after he and his former team were accused by MPs of manipulating drug rules before major races, including Wiggins’ 2012 Tour de France victory.

A report by the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport committee of the House of Commons published yesterday, accused Wiggins and other Team Sky riders of using the drug triamcinolone not for its recognised purpose as an asthma treatment, but because it helped them lose weight without compromising their power.

Russian computer hackers revealed three years ago that Wiggins had applied for therapeutic use exemptions, which allowed riders to have injections of otherwise banned drugs, permitting him to take the powerful corticosteroid.

United Kingdom Anti-Doping launched an inquiry in September 2016 after British newspaper the Daily Mail reported a mystery package meant for the now-retired Wiggins had been delivered to Team Sky during a 2011 race in France.

It was alleged the package contained triamcinolone but Wiggins’ then doctor, Richard Freeman, said it was the decongestant fluimucil, a legal substance.

Australian coach Sutton, who quit as the performance director of British Cycling in the run-up to the 2016 Rio Olympics following an unrelated sexism row, told the committee that “what Brad was doing was unethical but not against the rules”.

But the 37-year-old Wiggins, a five-time Olympic gold medallist, said in a statement: “I find it so sad that accusations can be made, where people can be accused of things they have never done which are then regarded as facts.

“I strongly refute the claim that any drug was used without medical need. I hope to have my say in the next few days and put my side across.” –

London