Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)

Froome denies doping at Sky

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THREE-TIME Tour de France winner Chris Froome has said he was never offered or administer­ed the powerful corticoste­roid triamcinol­one by Team Sky and was not aware of other riders in the British outfit taking it.

His former team mate and fellow Briton Bradley Wiggins, who won the Tour in 2012, was legally given triamcinol­one shortly before the 2011 and 2012 Tours and the 2013 Giro d’Italia to treat pollen allergies that aggravated asthma.

Wiggins was allowed to take triamcinol­one after being cleared by cycling’s world governing body (UCI) under a therapeuti­c use exemption (TUE), which allows athletes to take otherwise-banned substances to treat medical conditions.

During an ongoing investigat­ion by UK Anti- Doping (UKAD) into allegation­s of possible wrongdoing by the British team, it was disclosed earlier this year that 55 doses of triam- cinolone had been ordered by Team Sky between 2010 and 2013.

However Froome, who like Wiggins had his medical records, including the use of TUEs, made public by Russian cyber hackers Fancy Bears last year, said he had never used triamcinol­one.

“I can only speak about my experience­s in the team at the time,” Froome, who is focused on trying to win a fourth Tour de France at next month’s race, told The Guardian. “I certainly haven’t been offered triamcinol­one in the team.”

Team Sky has been under a cloud over the contents of a ‘jiffy bag’ delivered to the team’s then doctor Richard Freeman at the 2011 Criterium du Dauphine.

A report alleged it was triamcinol­one, although team principal Dave Brailsford said the package contained the legal flu treatment Fluimucil.

Brailsford told a parlia- mentary committee in December that “mistakes were made” in Team Sky’s record-keeping but he has always denied that the team was involved in any wrongdoing.

The saga is likely to drag on throughout the Tour and 32- year- old Froome, who is negotiatin­g a new deal with Sky, where he is under contract until the end of 2018, said it was an unnecessar­y distractio­n.

“Honestly, I haven’t given it much thought,” he said. “It’s not something I’ve gone and done my own investigat­ion on. I’ve been so focused on getting ready for the Tour.

“I can only speak about my experience in the team. It hasn’t been my experience that triamcinol­one has been handed out freely.”

Team Sky have said that only a small amount of the triamcinol­one was administer­ed to riders under TUEs with the rest being used to treat staff members. – Reuters

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