A new documentary is to be broadcast tomorrow evening, Sunday, about the controversy around Team Sky, Bradley Wiggins and British Cycling for over a year. David Millar, above, has been critical of Team Sky, Bradley Wiggins over the TUE issue.
David Millar critical of Bradley Wiggins, Team Sky over TUEs
Former pro rider, and the man Team Sky refused to hire because of his doping past, David Millar has said the team was “gaming” the TUE system.
Millar, who served a ban for EPO only to return and present as an anti-doping advocate, has spoken to the BBC about the affair.
“They were gaming the system. I think that’s quite obvious,” Millar has said. “I think we all know that. It’s just hugely disappointing.
“Team Sky were zero tolerance, so you would think that zero tolerance would mean you weren’t going to tread into that very grey area which is cortisone use.
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“When I heard that, a little bit of me died to be honest,” he added in a BBC 2 programme to be broadcast tomorrow at 9pm.
Late last year the TUE details of a number of world class athletes were publicly leaked after the Russian Fancy Bears hacking team obtained them when it hacked WADA.
Wiggins was one of those riders whose details were leaked. They showed he had availed of TUES for the corticosteroid triamcinolone.
He did so before the Tour de France in 2011, which he crashed out of, and in 2012 when he won.
Wiggins also availed of a third TUE before the Giro d’Italia the following year. He has said that the TUEs were to treat respiratory problems linked to hay fever.
Wiggins broke no rules and the TUEs were properly applied for and sanctioned by medics and the UCI.
However, other riders have questioned the ethics of availing of the TUEs amid claims they would have reduced his weight been beneficial to his power.
In recent days the UK Anti Doping Agency said it had concluded its investigation into a medical product delivered to Team Sky in a ‘jiffy bag’ back in 2011.
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The ‘jiffy bag’ affair is separate to the TUEs controversy, though both broke around the same time late last year.
Neither Team Sky nor British Cycling had records to support their claim the bag contained an over the counter decongestant not on the banned list.
UKAD said because of the lack of records it could not determine what was in the bag. And as no doping had been found, the inquiry had come to an end without doping charges arising.
Bradley Wiggins responded by querying where the allegation had come from and demanding UKAD reveal the source.
He was also critical of his former team and British Cycling for their inability to produce proof of what was in the bag.
Now the BBC has made a documentary titled Britain’s Cycling Superheroes: the Price of Success.
It is examining the jiffy bag incident, the use of Bradley Wiggins of TUEs and other recent controversies including the turmoil and staff departures at British Cycling.
David Millar has been interviewed for the programme, as has Shane Sutton and Dave Brailsford.
Sutton said the use by Wiggins of the TUEs could be seen as a marginal gains. Though he qualified that saying they were used to address ailments.
“If you’ve got an athlete that’s 95 per cent ready and that little 5 per cent niggle or injury that’s troubling them; if you can get the TUE to get them to 100 per cent, of course you would in them days,” Sutton said.
“The business you’re in is to give you the edge on your opponent. And ultimately it’s about killing them off.
“But you definitely don’t cross the line and that’s something we’ve never done.”
When asked if a TUE aided the securing a gain Sutton said: “Yes, because the rules allow you to do that.”
For his part, Brailsford said he had no difficulty with the TUEs that Wiggins availed of. He insisted everything was above board.
“If an athlete is hampered by an illness and there is a medication they can have and the TUE criteria are met, then they should,” he said.
“If Wada and the UCI signed this off and it was all absolutely clear and above board then I was comfortable with that.”
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