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I agree with you, mainly.
But I do think new rules for TUEs are needed.
Why? There were figures published by the UCI, that I saw on Twitter last week, which showed that the use of TUEs has declined massively in the last five years. I can't find the tweet now, but in 2011 there were something like 200 TUEs applied for with the UCI, last year there were 15 and the decline was clear year on year.
I don't see that it's a problem for the sport, you have to allow athletes to take the right medicine for underlying health issues even if they are banned. The TUE system allows for that, I don't see why you have to throw out the baby with the bathwater.
andyp-
Fair enough. Its seems the main source of the hysteria is the fact Wiggins said he hadn't had injections when he had, that and the fact its Wiggins and Sky.
Well played Russia.
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in 2011 there were something like 200 TUEs applied for with the UCI, last year there were 15 and the decline was clear year on year
Oh, it only means they're all doing it secretly now. :)
Jimmy_Fingers
Oliver Schick
There are plenty of things out there that will give you a performance boost, from beetroot juice to caffeine pills. The line between those and what is illegal is a fairly arbitrary line in the sand. We depend on WADA to draw that line in the sand for us and basically Wiggins and Sky are on the right side of the line on current evidence. It may be an uncomfortable truth but it doesn't make them cheats.
I think it does mean the use of TUEs and OOC competition cortisones need to be addressed but the description of Wiggins symptons are like the severe allergy attacks I used to get as a child: severe rhinitis, irritated eyes, asthma. It was horrible, and I would have made anything to make it stop. The injections he got to combat this were legit, and unless he lied about the reasons for taking them he didn't nothing wrong. Travis Tygart summed it up really well, defending the leaked athletes and he wouldn't do that unless he felt these athletes were operating above board.
Its an own goal claiming he didn't have injections in his book, one of the reasons its a good idea not to write a effing book before you are retired. And it does expose Sky to accusations of hypocrisy, but I've always felt that they are a team willing to push the limits, in terms of gaining an edge, but studious in staying inside the law. It's very hard to gauge exactly the benefits these injections gave him, but if WADA says they are legit then for me I have no issues with them. But I do think new rules for TUEs are needed.