Team Sky boss Sir Dave Brailsford has defended the decision to get special permission for Sir Bradley Wiggins to receive injections of a banned drug before three major races, including his historic win in the 2012 Tour de France.
Wiggins' use of the powerful anti-inflammatory drug triamcinolone on the eve of the 2011 and 2012 Tours and 2013 Giro d'Italia was revealed when a group of Russian computer hackers starting leaking the medical data of dozens of top athletes almost a fortnight ago.
The 36-year-old British star applied, and was granted, three therapeutic use exemptions (TUEs) to take the drug to deal with a pollen allergy that aggravates his long-standing asthma condition.
But triamcinolone has also been widely used as a doping agent by riders, including Lance Armstrong, and is believed to help athletes lose weight, fight fatigue and aid recovery.
Wiggins' TUEs, which were stolen from the World Anti-Doping Agency's computer servers by the so-called 'Fancy Bears international hack team', were approved by cycling's world governing body the UCI and there is no suggestion that he or the team have broken any rules.
But that has not stopped both the rider and Team Sky facing a barrage of criticism from inside and outside the sport, particularly given the team's much-publicised "zero tolerance" attitude towards doping, and Wiggins' own comments about drugs cheats and the use of needles in his autobiographies.
Speaking to the BBC in Manchester on Monday, Brailsford reiterated his belief that the team had done nothing wrong and denied that this was remotely similar to the doping so prevalent in the sport a decade ago.
"What we're talking about here is Bradley having a need, the team doctor supporting that, an expert giving their opinion that this is the medicine that is required, and that then going to the authorities who say 'we agree with you, and here's the certificate that gives you the permission to use that medication'," said Brailsford.
"I've got trust in (the TUE) process and the integrity of that process.
"It's not one person making that decision. It's not the rider or the team doctor, who is picking the medication. They have to seek permission to use it and they were granted permission."
Source: PA-WIRE
