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FWIW, my take on this is that the most famous jiffy bag ever contained
substances that are illegal in competition, but can be taken out of
competition, so probably Triamcinolone and maybe some others. The plan
was for Wiggins to take them right after the Dauphine finished, to
strip off that final kilo or two before the Tour started that meant he
would take the start as light as he could, whilst maintaining his
power. The TUE was applied for as a safety net in case traces were
found during the Tour. Whatever you think of the ethics of this, it
was allowed, and is still allowed, by the rules laid down by WADA.So this is how you turn a track rider into a TdF winner... Agree that it probably wasn't illegal but still, doesn't sound upstanding or clean either and that's been their pr strategy
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Define clean? Bread and water only?
I always struggle to understand why it's okay for you or I to have prescription drugs when required, but professional athletes should be prohibited from doing so. The WADA code is accepted across Olympic sports as the line between doped and clean sport. As long as Sky stay the right side of that line then they are clean.
andyp
If you can show me the doping violations they've made then I'll join the lynch mob. But, thus far, nothing they have done has crossed that line which takes them into anti-doping violations, despite what the Daily Mail might think.
FWIW, my take on this is that the most famous jiffy bag ever contained substances that are illegal in competition, but can be taken out of competition, so probably Triamcinolone and maybe some others. The plan was for Wiggins to take them right after the Dauphine finished, to strip off that final kilo or two before the Tour started that meant he would take the start as light as he could, whilst maintaining his power. The TUE was applied for as a safety net in case traces were found during the Tour. Whatever you think of the ethics of this, it was allowed, and is still allowed, by the rules laid down by WADA.
The lack of records might be genuine, as issues surrounding the administering of drugs have been identified in Team Sky elsewhere, or it might be a cover up so that no anti-doping violation charges can be brought. It's quite a complex cover up if Dr Freeman went to the trouble of reporting his laptop stolen over 2 years before anyone outside of the team knew this happened.
What I can be accused of being a 'one man band' for is the following of due process when such incidents come to light, and in this case nothing that has come into the public domain so far violates the WADA code, so no charges can be brought.
I also have issue with the fact that the Daily Mail is leading this, because I think it's a despicable rag, and it's obvious that one of their main motivations is to throw mud at a team sponsored by a rival media organisation (one that is, for the record, equally despicable in my opinion). The Mail also has an anti-cycling agenda that this fits with too.