Formerly close to Bradley Wiggins, Shane Sutton has called on him and Team Sky's former doctor to come forward and be more open about what they did in terms of taking triamcinolone under TUE.
Shane Sutton on Bradley Wiggins, Dr Richard Freeman
Shane Sutton, who left British Cycling under a cloud, has said Bradley Wiggins and Dr Richard Freeman need to come forward and outline their full use of TUEs.
However, in strong comments Sutton has supported a number of key statements Wiggins has made in the past 48 hours.
The Culture, Media and Sport select parliamentary committee in the UK produced a report claiming Wiggins took triamcinolone under TUE to gain an advantage and not to treat illness.
It also said a well placed anonymous source had told it Wiggins, and other riders, trained separately to the rest of the team.
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The source claimed Wiggins and those he trained with all used triamcinolone to trim down.
Wiggins strongly denied this and Sutton also insisted it was untrue. He said he saw Wiggins suffer with his respiratory system; the condition he claims he needed the medication for.
Shane Sutton added he did not know the full extent of Wiggins using TUEs. But he did not believe Wiggins had cheated in any way.
In an unusual statement, he believed the lack of information shared by Wiggins and Freeman in public had undermined Team Sky boss Dave Brailsford. And, in an interview with Sky Sports News, he believed that was unfair.
Sutton said if Wiggins and others trained apart from the team and used triamcinolone for performance enhancement they would have risked being caught.
“Do you not think that the governing bodies out there, the system in place, the whereabouts system and everything else; that these riders weren’t tested?
“They were tested on a regular basis. Brad and I tended to work in isolation in that period where the source says this happened. So I’d like to know when.
“There weren’t that many occasions where I was present where all the Tour riders would come together with Brad.
“I have no recollection of training with that group, knowing where that particular group was together as this particular person says.
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“For me, that is a total lie. Someone who has very much got an axe to grind with Team Sky.”
While Sutton's comments in that regard corroborate what Wiggins has said, he expressed his disappointment with the 2012 Tour champion.
“I’ve no axe to grind with Brad. My axe to grind is that (Dr Richard Freeman) and Brad had a chance to come forward (but) they never came forward.
“They had a chance to defend Dave Brailsford. And it should have been them in front of the select committee not Dave.
“That grieves me a little bit. But not to the point where I wouldn’t sit down with Brad and have a drink. There’s no problem there whatsoever.
“I’m calling for (Wiggins) and the doc to come forward now and tell the truth.
“I can’t answer all of the questions on how often he used it or when. I think that’s something that only Brad and the doc can tell us.”
Sutton said while Wiggins had a TUE to use triamcinolone out of competition, he believed his need for it was genuine.
“He was sanctioned to use it by the UCI in the lead-up to major tours because obviously he’s a sufferer.
“When you’ve actually been in the cold and seen him suffering, and gasping for breath at the end of that particular effort; to see what he was going through.”
Bradley Wiggins not a cheat
Furthermore, Sutton said because Bradley Wiggins was sanctioned to use it and genuinely needed to use the drug he could not be accused of cheating.
“The word ‘cheat’ needs to be taken out of the equation here. The report in the tabloids and everything else is that he didn’t cheat.”
Appearing to address Wiggins and Richard Freeman directly, Sutton added:
“Come forward and tell everybody what you went through, how many times you actually administered this particular corticosteroid or whatever to combat what you were going through and I think, you know, let’s just put it to bed.”
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