How about you do some research? Every paper in the UK and many others around the world are reporting on this. Its kind of a big deal.
Yes, Iām well aware of that, thanks. First thing on the BBC news I heard this morning.
I just thought Iād highlight the irony of the Mail taking the moral high ground. Hilarious
For the record, Iām no apologist for Sky. I think their whole āooh, look at us, weāre squeaky cleanā shtick is tiresome. Since, when it came to the crunch, they failed to be transparent, I have no faith.
My issue is with the way this is being interpreted as something new. There is no concrete evidence in the report (according to the āresearchā [yes, Iāve been trawling through all the reports today] Iāve seen). The report seems to be concluding that Sky were unethical. Well, no shit Sherlock. Ethics in pro sport is fantasy. Wiggins himself said he did what he had to do āto put himself on a level playing fieldā. He clearly believe he acted within the rules, because the UCI approved the TUEs. I half expect him to come out and tell us that the Jiffy bag contained āpersonalā medication for a dose he picked up one night in Parisā¦ medical confidentiality and all that, cos he didnāt want his missus to find out. My other issue is that this has taken up time of British MPs. There are far greater things to worry about in the UK right now. Itās preposterous. Compared to our MPsā expenses scandal(s), itās not even worthy of 5 minutes of their time. Laughable, hypocritical bollocks.
Christ, anyone would think Sky were selling heroin to small children on Manchester council estates. Itās fucking pro cycling - they do what they do and what they can get away with. Why arenāt we spending the same amount of time and energy getting at pro footballers for taking a dive, feigning an injury, scoring a penalty and going on to win the World Cup or whatever (see also rugby, athletics, tennis, swimming, baseball, basketball, blah, blah, blah)? Cheating is everywhere, often for all the world to see, but nobody seems to get so upset about it unless itās skinny people in Lycra. Why is cheating in cycling such a big deal? I donāt condone cheating, but I fail to understand why the coverage is so disproportionate.
In case you missed it:
https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201719/cmselect/cmcumeds/366/36606.htm
- Bradley Wiggins has defended his use of triamcinolone to treat his asthma and allergies in 2011, 2012 and 2013. In an interview on The Andrew Marr Show, he argued that his use of TUEs simply put himself āback on a level playing fieldā with his rivals.93 Shane Sutton, Bradley Wigginsā coach at Team Sky at the time, has explained that it was then common for athletes to use TUEs to āfind gainsā if they were allowed to. āIf you have an athlete who is 95% ready and that little 5% niggle or injury that is troubling him, if you can get that TUE to get him to 100%, yeah of course you would in them days.ā94 The rules at that time permitted the use of triamcinolone subject to the granting of a TUE exemption. In such circumstances, however, it was imperative that procedures relating to the granting of a TUE are applied and enforced rigorously.
Something Sky has to answer toā¦there were 55 doses of tri-ace bought. Wiggo had 3 or 4. Whereās the other 51? Seems pretty obvious Brailsford had a clear plan to use tri-ace with TUEs issued by a dodgy quack whenever possible.
My take is Dodgy Dave has to go.
This is worth a look:
I guess it depends on whether you think BW is credible. What he says is consistent with his previous stance. I have no problem with that.
Wiggo might be OK, he went to the doc with a niggle, got some steroid medications with TUEs attached. But for a team that proclaimed it would be racing clean and transparently thereās some very dodgy stuff emerging. Lost medical records? Come on, thereās only one reason teams āloseā medical records.
The Secret Pro is always a good read:
I guess not directly related to Wiggo or TDF, but more Sky + Froomeās latest results.
Couldnāt agree more. As I noted above, I have no faith in their clean shtick. They are simply doing what all the rest are doing. Hence ālevel playing fieldā. Probably.
I think you mentioned Thomas earlier. Iād be really sad to find that he is in some way implicated, rather than simply by association. Would pick him for my team every time. As we say back home, heās ānailsā.
Who knows? Plenty of speculation, but Iād prefer to see hard evidence. As BW said, heād be treated more fairly if he were accused of murder.
This is a really good read:
For those willing to consider rational debate on this matter, this is well worth a listen: