Doping

Repped

It's such a shame that a legacy and reputation, many of whom were a part were not involved, will be tarnished. I hope there is a proper inquiry, and those responsible held accountable and banned from the sport.

Once again as fans we are let down.

I don't think we'll ever get to the bottom of this. There was clearly a culture of bullying in certain parts of BC, and I think you have to consider Freeman's actions in light of that.

Was there a doping culture too? I'm not convinced, synthetic testosterone is very easy to detect and would you really risk it when there are more effective methods that are very harder to detect available.

Your last sentence is what really confuses me too. I’m no expert at all, but I just don’t understand why they would pick that drug as it’s so obvious in testing...

If any of the BC riders at the time had been using it and winning, it surely would have come up on the anti doping tests.

And with their success, the team were probably tested more often than almost any other team?

Maybe they found or were looking for a way to use it that doesn't turn up in testing.

I admire your belief in ‘the sport’ but they were definitely doping. They’re just slippery fuckers that have so far managed to not get caught.

Wasn't it Farah's coach who used his kids to test how much you could use and stay below test thresholds? If he knew about it, it would seem like other people in elite sport might of done

And getting a banned substance posted to BC HQ was part of their cunning plan was it?

Every big doping ring has been bust open by someone doing something stupid. People are idiots. You get cocky, blasé, send some testo in the post

And getting a banned substance posted to BC HQ was part of their cunning plan was it?

How did the whole thing come out? I’d be surprised if it was the people that sent the stuff that blabbed.

The omerta in this case may be related to where the funding for British Cycling and Team Sky came from. Does Freeman want to risk the ire of the British Government and James Murdoch?

Not forgetting the President of British Cycling at the time of Testogel/ jiffy bag in 2011 was President of the UCI when jiffy bag came to light in 2016.

Geraint Thomas (ranked 6 in the leaked 2010 UCI suspicion report)

"‘It’s insulting when people say it [cycling] is really filthy and saying I’m doing something wrong. I dedicate everything to this.

‘You look at older riders – they are the most cynical about it all because they don’t know any other way.

‘Look at Brad [Wiggins] and [Chris] Froome. I’d put all the money I have on them being clean.’"

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/othersports/article-2988296/Team-Sky-s-Geraint-Thomas-slams-CIRC-doping-suggestions-insulting.html

I think a lot is being read into the verdict of the GMC tribunal. It wasn't a doping investigation, rather it was deciding on whether a Doctor was fit to continue to practise medicine. Given that he admitted most of the charges the verdict was a given.

What is more interesting, and definitely needs further investigation, is the idea that Shane Sutton is a credible witness. Both this story, and the Jiffy bag story, come from the same source and it widely rumoured that it is Sutton. The Daily Mail have a signed affidavit from him that has never been published. The parliamentary committee that Damian Collins leads that investigated this also have information on Sutton that has never been published.

Sutton clearly has a grudge against BC as an organisation, or individuals who work(ed) there, and this case came about because of that. I hope the UKAD investigation covers this properly.

I don't agree that whether Shane Sutton is credible or not is the main issue here. Mr Freeman has consistently dodged questions, destroyed records, and done almost everything he could to avoid answering straight questions.

But the tribunal came down to a question of who was more credible, Freeman or Sutton. I'd argue neither are.

It's clear there was something going on that someone wanted covered up, but exactly what is still unknown. Freeman has taken the blame, but was it really just him acting alone or is there more to it than that? I'd hazard a guess that there was, but we don't know if it was riders being doped or something else, nor who was involved. The UKAD investigation has to be broader than Freeman's involvement.

A packet of testosterone was delivered to HQ. This was confirmed by the supplier.

Other than doping, what else was it for?

Giving Sutton mad wood allegedly

Shane Sutton's erectile dysfunction was the claim.

Even if that was true, you must be a fucking lunatic to have Test delivered to squeaky clean British Cycling HQ for any reason. Dafuq were they thinking?

Isn’t Shane Sutton fairly well established as a bully?
Maybe can’t bully a GP, maybe can bully a work colleague.

I think he only bullies girls. Allegedly.

Also, Freeman lied about the Test, who's to say he didn't lie about the bullying and everything else? He was trying to save his own arse.

Fair point.
The easiest way for him to have saved his arse would be to blame British Cycling or Brailsford and name the rider.

Is a family member being kept hostage or something?
A pre agreed massive financial payout for taking the fall?

Maybe Freeman did it on purpose to try and expose Sutton?