Don’t be misled . . . this story is far from over

BeFOre he resigned as the British Cycling doctor last month, richard Freeman asked his employers if he could give an interview to the BBC about the success of the organisation under the guidance of Sir Dave Brailsford.

British Cycling suggested that if he was now well enough to speak to the BBC, he was well enough to speak to their human resources department about his failure to keep proper medical records — and could also speak to Uk Anti-Doping about their investigation into Team Sky, British Cycling and a medical package delivered for Sir Bradley Wiggins.

Freeman responded by saying, on second thoughts, he was still too unwell to talk to anyone and quietly quit instead. But yesterday’s announcement by Uk AntiDoping nevertheless arrived without their investigators being able to quiz properly the only person, other than Wiggins, who knows for absolute certain what medication was administered to the Tour de France winner in the French Alps on June 12, 2011.

When Wiggins claims to have no recollection what the now infamous ‘jiffy bag’ contained, and nor does the physiotherapist who packed it or the former coach who took it through Uk and French customs before delivering it to Team Sky, an interview with Freeman would seem to be fairly crucial.

But after 14 months this controversy has once again exposed how woefully underfunded and powerless our national anti- doping agencies are. Sometimes they can’t even speak to witnesses. The General Medical Council may have more joy, and it will be interesting to see if their enquiries now uncover something that persuades anti- doping investigators to reopen the file.

In the meantime, a report into doping in sport is due to be published next month by the DCMS select committee and it could well lead to further questions despite the continued insistence by all concerned that there has been no wrongdoing. Yesterday they claimed they had all been vindicated.

Select committee chairman Damian Collins MP responded to that by pointing out that nobody has been exonerated and he is right. Anti-doping just haven’t been able to establish the contents of the package and are unable to take matters any further.

But let’s have a quick recap. This story was sparked by the original revelations, in documents leaked by russian computer hackers, about Wiggins’s highly questionable use of triamcinolone before major races.

And it continued amid tales of incomplete medical records, Dr Freeman’s stolen laptop and a serious effort by Brailsford, in particular, to make the problem go away.

And then there was this. ‘If you didn’t write the story, is there anything else that could be done?’ Brailsford asked me. even now, this story is far from over.