It is time for TUEs to be scrapped, says Thomas
TEAM SKY’S Geraint Thomas has called for Therapeutic Use Exemptions to be scrapped, saying people using them didn’t have a body “built for the rigours of professional sport”.
Thomas’s comments come as it was revealed the Cycling Anti-Doping Foundation had held talks with the UK Anti-Doping Agency regarding Team Sky.
Last night, UCI president David Lappartient urged the CADF to investigate Team Sky and Bradley Wiggins over his use of Triamcinolone and the jiffy bag delivered at the 2011 Criterium du Dauphine which Sky claim contained the decongestant Fluimucil.
Asthmatic Wiggins, who insists he is “100 per cent not a cheat”, was granted TUEs to take Triamcinolone shortly before the 2011 Tour de France, his 2012 Tour win and the 2013 Giro d’Italia.
Team Sky, who also insist they have done nothing wrong, were accused by MPs of using TUEs so that drugs could be given to boost performance rather than for medical reasons.
Thomas (right) believes the time has come for anti-doping and cycling officials to scrap the use of TUEs altogether.
“It would be a lot simpler just to get rid of them,” he told the BBC. “If someone’s had a TUE, it’s the opposite of doping. They’ve had the go-ahead from the powers that be to use that substance.
“But this is what’s bringing up the whole ethical debate so, in my eyes, it would just be easier to get rid of them. It would get rid of that grey area.
“Maybe people will disagree with that but, in my eyes, if you suffer so severely from asthma or allergies that over-the-counter medications or medications that don’t require TUEs such as Salbutamol can’t control, it’s unfortunate but maybe your body isn’t built for the rigours of professional sport.
“It might be unfair but, at the moment, that’s the only way I can see things becoming a bit more black and white.”
UKAD halted their lengthy and costly investigation into the Wiggins jiffy back in November but were very critical of British Cycling bosses.
Now, the agency have held informal talks with the CADF, who are being pushed by Lappartient to dig deeper into Team Sky in the wake of a damning Parliamentary report this week.