UKAD investigates more allegations against Bradley Wiggins & Team Sky
UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) has confirmed it will examine the latest allegations of wrongdoing involving top British cyclist Sir Bradley Wiggins.
As per the Daily Mail, UKAD is investigating Wiggins and Team Sky over a package that was delivered to them in France on June 12, 2011.
A spokeswoman for UKAD said in a statement that “UK Anti-Doping is investigating an allegation of wrongdoing within cycling. In order to protect the integrity of the investigation, we will not comment further.”
Wiggins won the Critérium du Dauphiné race on the day the package was reportedly delivered.
According to documents leaked by the hacker group Fancy Bears, Wiggins had a therapeutic use exemption (TUE) for triamcinolone acetonide – a synthetic corticosteroid – which was effective from June 29, 2011.
The newspaper says that while British Cycling has yet to identify what was in the package, it has indicated it did not contain triamcinolone.
A statement from Team Sky on Friday denied there had been any violation of the rules.
“Team Sky was contacted by the Daily Mail regarding an allegation of wrongdoing,” it read.
“We take any issues such as this very seriously and immediately conducted an internal review to establish the facts. We are confident there has been no wrongdoing.
“We informed British Cycling of the allegation and asked them to contact UKAD, who we will continue to liaise with.
“Team Sky is committed to clean competition. Our position on anti-doping is well known and we 100 percent stand by that.”
Wiggins and Team Sky have strongly defended their position after it emerged the five-time Olympic gold medal winner had received six TUEs during his career.
The British star has insisted the exemptions were medically necessary because of pollen and asthma allergies.
Wiggins and other leading sports stars from around the world, including fellow British cyclist Chris Froome, have seen hacked personal information released into the public domain by the Fancy Bears group during the last month.
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) claimed earlier this week that the group may have doctored or fabricated some of the documents it has released.
On Thursday, Fancy Bears released email correspondence between USADA science director Dr. Matthew Fedoruk and Dana Leenheer, Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) & Drug Reference Specialist.
The group claimed the exchange revealed that more than 200 US athletes have USADA and other organizations' permission to take banned drugs.
