A claim has surfaced that Team Sky may have broken the Union Cycliste Internationale’s ‘no needles’ policy, by using ‘intravenous (IV) recovery’ methods.
A report prepared by Press Association Sport and published online by the Guardian and other outlets says that a whistleblower has sent details of a claim that Sky used needles to UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) and to the House of Commons’ Culture, Media and Sport select committee. Both are currently investigating wider allegations of doping within sport in Britain.
According to PA Sport, the whistleblower has said that Team Sky may have used “intravenous recovery methods towards the end of the team’s difficult first season in 2010 and continued to do so despite the UCI ban”.
>>> Everything you need to know about the British Cycling/Sky mystery package saga
Team Sky is already under scrutiny after details emerged of a ‘mystery package’ that was transported from British Cycling’s headquarters in Manchester to the Critérium du Dauphiné in 2011.
Team Sky principal Dave Brailsford told the CMS select committee that the package contained anti-mucus medicine Fluimucil. Sky medic Dr Richard Freeman said that Bradley Wiggins was given the drug via nebuliser after he won the event.
In September 2016, the Fancy Bears hacking group illegally obtained therapeutic use exemption (TUE) certificates relating to Wiggins and published them online, which showed he received injections of triamcinolone prior to the 2011 and 2012 Tours de France, and the 2013 Giro d’Italia.
From the evidence presented to the Culture, Media and Sport select committee so far and broadcast publicly, Team Sky, Bradley Wiggins and British Cycling have operated within the sport’s rules.
A Team Sky spokesperson said: “It is right that any concerns are reported to and dealt with by the appropriate authorities, and we will continue to co-operate with them”.
