Wiggins defends use of drug exemptions

Sir Bradley Wiggins has again defended being granted permission to receive injections of a banned drug before three major races, including his historic win in the 2012 Tour de France.

The 36-year-old five-time Olympic champion understands the furore which erupted when his use of anti-inflammatory drug triamcinolone on the eve of the 2011 and 2012 Tours and 2013 Giro d’Italia was revealed by a group of Russian computer hackers.

Wiggins, who has a British record eight Olympic medals and was the first Briton to win the Tour, applied for, and was granted, three therapeutic use exemptions (TUEs) to take the drug to deal with a pollen allergy that aggravates his asthma condition.

But triamcinolone has also been widely used as a doping agent by riders, including Lance Armstrong, and is believed to help athletes lose weight, fight fatigue and aid recovery.

Wiggins was “fully aware” of the history of the drug “the taboo surrounding it all ... the misuse and the abuse of this drug in the past” and of those who believe its use is unethical.

He told the Guardian: “Without all the context of someone’s history then I could see that on paper maybe, especially the way some of it has been reported.

“It was for a very specific thing ... to treat something that was historically a problem for me and could be quite a serious problem for me.”

Wiggins’ TUEs were approved by cycling’s world governing body the UCI and there is no suggestion that he or Team Sky, for whom he was racing at the time, have broken any rules.

Picture: PA. Sir Bradley Wiggins has again defended being granted permission to receive injections of a banned drug before three major races.