Whether Froome is cleared or banned over Vuelta a España doping test, Team Sky credibility has plunged such depths the court of public opinion is already making its own judgmentIt is more than 23 years since the curious case of Miguel Induráin, the then four-time Tour winner who ended up being declared “positive in France” for elevated levels of the asthma cure salbutamol, which was banned at the time in that country. It will be no comfort to another four‑times Tour winner, Chris Froome, that the substance is nothing new in cycling.For almost three months, the Team Sky leader has been involved in a battle to retain his first Vuelta a España victory after an adverse analytical finding for that...
BBC Sports Personality of the Year voting, and Sky corporate changes, could lead to Froome’s inhalation of salbutamol proving a puff too farChris Froome is an opportunist. All great riders have to be. It’s the faculty that allows them to spot the moment at which to strike. The first time we saw that in Froome was when he sensed a weakness in Bradley Wiggins on the ascent of La Toussuire during the Tour de France five years ago, and had to be ordered to cease his attack on his own team leader.When Froome joined Team Sky, he was simply taking another opportunity. Born in Kenya to British-born parents and educated in South Africa, eight years ago he left behind the...
Eradicating exemptions seems fairer than allowing athletes to use artificial means of lifting themselves back up to their natural level of performanceIn more optimistic times, the news that Dr Michele Ferrari’s appeal against a doping conviction was turned down by an Italian court this week would have felt like a superfluous postscript to a story whose denouement had been revealed years ago. Instead, the decision to uphold the verdict on the man who introduced Lance Armstrong to EPO seems like a footnote to a story that has simply moved on.For a while after Armstrong’s fall it looked as though enough good work was being done to permit the provisional victory of hope over ingrained scepticism when it came to the...
Little sign of the hoped-for spirit of openness can been seen following British Cycling’s plunge into notorietyThere was always a more than even chance that the affair nicknamed Jiffy bag-gate would never arrive at a definitive ending. The investigating UK Anti-Doping agency has limited powers, the events in question hark back five years and more into the past, the allegations were vague – that triamcinolone had been in a certain bag delivered at a certain time to be administered to Bradley Wiggins, who has stated via Instagram that the bag “was never delivered to me” – and the key witness, Dr Richard Freeman, appeared unwilling to engage fully with the inquiry.As a result, Wednesday’s statement from Ukad confirming that no...
UK Anti-Doping Agency’s long and expensive investigation has reached what feels an unsatisfactory conclusion for all involved, including Bradley WigginsA 14-month investigation. Thirty‑seven witness interviews. A significant hit on the UK Anti‑Doping Agency budget. Yet still we are no closer to knowing whether the package delivered to Sir Bradley Wiggins at the Critérium du Dauphiné in 2011 contained a legal decongestant or a banned drug. Or to hearing from a key witness, Dr Richard Freeman, whose illness seems to have provoked a nine-month silence worthy of a monk.But we can be sure of this: few parties come out well from the Ukad investigation, which was closed on Wednesday. Not Team Sky or British Cycling, whose response to the initial claims the...