Wiggins calls for fresh doping inquiry
Bradley Wiggins has called for a fresh investigation into the delivery of a batch of Testogel to the national velodrome a decade ago. However, the 2012 Tour de France champion added that he did not believe any rider would have been “stupid enough” to dope in that manner in 2011.
A medical tribunal ruled last Friday that 30 sachets of Testogel had been ordered by Richard Freeman, the former Team Sky and British Cycling doctor, with the intention to dope an unnamed rider.
The ruling led to calls to unmask the intended recipient or recipients, with a shadow now cast over an entire generation of athletes.
Wiggins, speaking on his own show on Eurosport yesterday, said: “I don’t know anyone in their right mind who would use that [Testogel] for doping in that period, particularly given the amount of testing in that time.
“What needs to happen now is to alleviate this assumption that it must have been for a rider. It might have been for a staff member … it might have been for someone from another sport. Was it a mistake? Apparently it was. Then it should be easy to substantiate and show evidence.”
The General Medical Council’s case was that the testosterone would have been used for “microdosing” an athlete; small top-ups so as to make it hard to detect.
Freeman claimed he was bullied into ordering the drugs by Shane Sutton, the former head coach, to treat the Australian’s erectile dysfunction, but the tribunal panel found Sutton to be a “credible witness” while describing Freeman’s version of events as “implausible”.
During the investigation, Sutton angrily refuted claims of erectile dysfunction.
Freeman is provisionally suspended from all sport. His hearing continues tomorrow. He is weighing up whether to appeal against Friday’s ruling.