Wiggins denies unfair advantage
SIR BRADLEY WIGGINS has denied he was trying to gain an “unfair advantage” when he got permission to use a banned drug before some of his biggest races, including his victory in the 2012 Tour de France.
In a pre-recorded interview with BBC1’s Andrew Marr Show that will be broadcast this morning, the 36-year-old rider said: “The triamcinolone was prescribed for allergies and respiratory problems.
“I’ve been a life-long sufferer of asthma and I went to my team doctor at the time and we went, in turn, to a specialist to see if there’s anything else we could do to cure these problems.
“And he said, ‘Yeah, there’s something you can do but you’re going to need authorisation from cycling’s governing body’.
“You have to show and provide evidence from a specialist that they will then scrutinise with three independent doctors and authorise you to take this product. If one of those three doctors says no, you get declined.
“This was to cure a medical condition. This wasn’t about trying to find a way to gain an unfair advantage.
“This was about putting myself back on a level playingfield in order to compete at the highest level.”