Dave Brailsford’s lofty ideals when setting up Team Sky have been exposed under the pressure of top-level competition
To judge from Dave Brailsford’s words the other day it seems he still doesn’t get it. He was talking in a press conference about the business of the abnormally high salbutamol level in a urine sample taken from Chris Froome in Spain last September but not revealed – by this newspaper and Le Monde – until three months later. While re-emphasising his belief that Froome had done nothing wrong, he added that the finding should not have been made public.
But when Brailsford set up Team Sky eight years ago it was on the basis of absolute honesty and openness. We are going to ride clean, he said, and you can watch us do it. He gave every appearance of recognising that his zero-tolerance policy on doping would require the team to be transparent even beyond the letter of the law.
Related: Chris Froome says report of plea bargain over failed drug test ‘completely untrue’
Related: Team Sky will not suspend Chris Froome during investigation
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