Cycling/ Cheating etc
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Even more shit coming out now..... The remainder of the team medical staff changed the password for the Team Sky log in for TUE applications as they were wary of Wiggin's doctor's applications and the use of corticosteroids.
Wiggins only ever seemed to need them around 4 days before a big race and the use is described as using a sledgehammer to crack a walnut in regard to his 'pollen allergy'.
When UKAD were investigating the 'jiffy bag' thing they also discovered a delivery of testosterone patches to the doctor which were hastily returned when someone else noted them and the supplier was forced to declare an 'ordering error'
Sounding more and more like this one doctor is the bad egg and it's going to be difficult to prove collusion with him from Wiggins and Brailsford -
One doctor perhaps (out of four employed by Team Sky), but for how many other riders? Circumstantial it may be, but the case against Wiggins and Brailsford is overwhelming now IMO so the question is who else will get dragged into it. If there are clean riders in the set up I'd expect them to start protecting their own reputations. Need to keep in mind though that the "one bad apple" story would also be mightily convenient for a lot of people.
It looks like the press are starting to get their teeth into this now. It'll be interesting to see if they look into the Doctor's previous job at Bolton Wanderers too - where he worked under Sam Allardyce - and was "responsible for all pharmaceutical and supplement provision to players" per his own CV (http://www.drrichardfreeman.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/CV2015.pdf).
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@Kirwan said in Cycling/ Cheating etc:
Can you be stripped of a knighthood?
You certainly can. Happened to a corrupt police commissioner here in Qld.
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@MajorRage said in Cycling/ Cheating etc:
@TeWaio I don't think that video proves anything. They are saying it's a private estate (which it may well be), in which case they are well within their powers to tell them to f off.
This doesn't look good for Wiggins though, granted.
It's a private estate that has a public right of way (footpath) running through it, as the reporter says at the end. Which means any member of the public can go down there, stop, film, have a picnic, etc. I have one running across my land in the UK.
Wiggins saying he'll "call the police" is moronic.
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Those reporters who think they have the god given right to make people talk on camera are moronic I reckon.
It's cheap and cowardly hounding someone with a camera (and the subsequent editing that takes place)
Fuck off TV piston wristed gibbons
BUT TW, not disagreeing with your assertion that Wiggins doesn't come out of this whole doping thing looking decidedly dodgy
I just hate TV badgering, and commercial TV in general
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Yeah, that clip is pretty tabloid stuff. You are never going to get serious answers and I doubt the 'journalist' would even have serious informed questions lined up. It is a tactic designed solely to make someone look bad.
On the other hand I'm sure there is a good counter tactic for someone in this position. Be prepared for when it happens with a clear statement that makes you look in control but not arrogant. As soon as you start to look defensive the sharks will circle.It's hard to say if Wiggins was in on the plan or just going along with a loophole use advised by the team doctor. On the other hand he maintains it was to provide him a level playing field (think we've heard that one before somewhere? Armstrong?) but would have felt himself the physical benefits of kenalog.
I had a read up about triamcinolone and it looks like a rule bender's dream. You can use it legitimately as a preventative treatment for many things and could even get a prescription for it for athletes foot. As long as you apply for a TUE (and get it granted) you are 'legit' even though the beneficial side effects can last 3 weeks and those side effects can also be increased with the use of allowed drugs such as anti-biotics. Should you try and push the rules and use it in training (where you don't need a TUE) you can take other legit medicines that clear it from your system quite quickly.
You could get dosed on kenalog to train hard up to 4 days out from a competition start and effectively then remove it from your system.
It looks like the misuse of kenalog under TUEs has been going on for a long time and while is isn't breaking the rules if you follow the loopholes, the point is that Sky have endlessly claimed to be 'ethically' as well as legally clean. Wiggins himself has denied having any 'needles'. -
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So, looks like Froome has some trouble... 100% over the accepted dosage for salbutamol (asthma drug)....
http://www.bbc.com/sport/cycling/42350159
The last guy caught for this was apparently banned for 9 months.
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It sounds like there are some pretty solid procedures to follow here, to try and replicate the result under similar circumstances and cover questions of dehydration etc.
the big hurdle will be explaining why, if he followed the same medication process on other days it was only this one that had a problem.
Could well have been an “innocent “ mistake but if it broke the rules it broke the rules. -
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My take is that Froome and Wiggins attempt to stick within the letter of the law.
They will use every possible trick within that letter, including pretending to be asthmatic and have hay fever. They will push every angle, and take anything not formally prohibited.
I think all "therapeutic use exemptions" need to be fully publicised, to try to cut down on this legalised cheating.
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@stockcar86 So if I'm reading that right, that would be theoretically using up a 200 dose Ventolin inhaler roughly once a week to get to that level of Salbutamol?
... and if I'm in the right ballpark... sheesh!
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What annoys me is Froome continually states 'I haven't broken any rules' which is something that hasn't been decided yet.
The rules are not how often you can use your inhaler they are 'how much of the drug are you carrying in you'.
Tests have shown that he had too much onboard his body so, if the tests are correct, he has broken the rule.
All that remains is the explanation of why this is which could mitigate the issue.I tend to agree that this is Sky pushing the limits and getting caught out. WADA rules basically say that if you have a condition that requires taking this drug you can do so up to a point but if you need to take more than that, then sorry, you will need to withdraw on health reasons as you will otherwise be mixing with cheats.
I was prescribed this drug once myself as a got a particularly bad reaction after stacking hay in a barn and inhaling a lot of hay dust. For a while whenever I got hayfever I needed to take a puff or two to free up my breathing. Now, it may be because I was not a regular user but to me it always felt like having the effects of a massive caffeine hit. It gave you a great short term rush. (Just the type of feeling that I imagine would help chasing down a breakaway on a hill climb) -
Quite an interesting article here
Paul Kimmage: The greatest ever or just another drug cheat? After all the bullshit, why should we care?
'Chris Froome's secret battle: Eight doctors, six clinics, four countries and five different illnesses . . . the remarkable personal struggle of Great Bri...
An excerpt
*"Given the list and nature of his ailments, it is no surprise that supplements are his friend: protein drinks and fish oils, beetroot juice and energizer greens. He has used Tramadol but only for back pain, an anti-histamine called Loratadine for an allergy to sun creams; Fluticasone, a preventative spray for asthma, and Ventolin (Salbutamol) when he's racing and about to make an effort.
"Is that not using the inhaler to boost your performance?" I asked him once.
"I eat breakfast before a long race," he replied. "Is that not boosting my performance? If I don't eat I won't have any energy; if I don't have my inhaler before a really big effort I'm probably not going to be able to breathe very well. I know I'm not going to breathe very well."
"But is that (health) not the essence of competition?" I suggested."Inhalers are not performance-enhancing," he said. "If any normal person who doesn't have asthma takes an inhaler, they're not going to ride any faster. Their lungs are not going to open any larger than they were before. But someone who does have asthma, the airways are going to close up and that inhaler just helps them to close less. It just helps me to be more normal and I definitely don't see that as an unfair advantage."
But that depends, obviously, on how much is used."*
