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Russian hackers publish Wiggins and Froome medical filesWiggins and Froome (pic Bettini Photo, courtesy Pinarello)

Russian hackers publish Wiggins and Froome medical files

Leak of WADA documents reveals banned drugs used under Therapeutic Use Exemption
by Simon_MacMichael
Thu, Sep 15, 2016 08:58
39

Russian hackers who accessed the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) database have published further medical files relating to athletes who competed at the Rio Olympic Games, including British cyclists Sir Bradley Wigggins and Chris Froome. The documents include details of normally banned drugs that they have been allowed to use under a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE).

The latest release of records follows the disclosure earlier this week of ones relating to American tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams and the gymnast, Simone Biles.

While there is no evidence of any of the 29 athletes whose records have been disclosed having doped, the group responsible for publishing the data, who go by the name Fancy Bears, insist that TUEs are “licenses for doping.”

According to The Guardian, Wiggins received TUEs for four separate substances on several occasions between 2008 and 2013. Those include the asthma drugs salbutamol, formeterol and budesonide, plus triamcinolone acetonide, used to treat the 36-year-old’s pollen allergy.

The TUEs cover the period from 2008 to 2013. At the start of that period, Wiggins raced for Team High Road, although his main focus was on the track where he won gold in the individual and team pursuits at the Beijing Olympics.

He joined Garmin-Slipstream in 2009, finishing fourth in the Tour de France (he was later elevated to third following Lance Armstrong’s ban), moving to Team Sky the following year, with whom he won the 2012 Tour de France.

Races where he was granted a TUE are said to include the 2011 Tour de France, where Wiggins crashed out on Stage 7, and the 2013 Giro d’Italia, which he abandoned halfway through due to a chest infection and knee injury.

Froome, meanwhile, was granted a TUE in April 2014 to use the drug prednisolone, used for various inflammatory and autoimmune conditions, at the Tour de Romandie, something that was reported on the same year by French newspaper Le Journal Du Dimanche.

The documents released by Fancy Bears however also reveal that Froome had been given permission to use the same substance at the previous year’s Critérium du Dauphiné, shortly before he won the Tour de France with Team Sky.

At Rio last month, Wiggins became Great Britain's most decorated Olympian ever in terms of total medals won as he secured his fifth career gold, riding in the team pursuit. Froome won bronze in the time trial, just as he had done at London 2012 where Wiggins took gold.

WADA believes that the cyber attack is designed to undermine the global anti-doping system and that it has “no doubt” that it also serves as retaliation for Russia’s track and field team and a number of other athletes being excluded from the Rio Olympics. There is a blanket ban on Russian athletes at the Paralympics.

The agency has appealed to the Russian authorities for help in stopping the publication of information, although the Kremlin strongly denies any involvement.

According to WADA, the data is being released in batches and is restricted to athletes who competed in the Rio Olympic Games, with its database accessed via an International Olympic Committee-created account.

WADA director general Olivier Niggli said the organisation “is very mindful that this criminal attack, which to date has recklessly exposed personal data of 29 athletes, will be very distressing for the athletes that have been targeted; and, cause apprehension for all athletes that were involved in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.”

He continued: “To those athletes that have been impacted, we regret that criminals have attempted to smear your reputations in this way; and, assure you that we are receiving intelligence and advice from the highest level law enforcement and IT security agencies that we are putting into action.

“Given this intelligence and advice, WADA has no doubt that these ongoing attacks are being carried out in retaliation against the agency, and the global anti-doping system, because of our independent Pound and McLaren investigations that exposed state-sponsored doping in Russia.

 “We condemn this criminal activity and have asked the Russian Government to do everything in their power to make it stop.

“Continued cyber-attacks emanating from Russia seriously undermine the work that is being carried out to rebuild a compliant anti-doping program in Russia," he concluded.

The continued disclosures have reignited the debate over the use of TUEs by athletes and whether there should be more transparency around the process, including making details publicly available as a matter of course.

Sir Bradley Wiggins
Chris Froome
wada
hackers
Simon MacMichael

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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39 comments

Avatar
STiG911 replied to tritecommentbot | 8 years ago
3 likes

unconstituted wrote:

Ric_Stern_RST wrote:

unconstituted wrote:

budesonide (Pulmicort) is a 'regular' inhaler used for prevention of asthma (as opposed to a reliever such as salbutamol which stops an attack that has just happened). It may be available in other forms as well (e.g. a tablet) and i'm not sure how it was used in these instances. 

Increases in strength aren't needed for endurance cycling such as the pursuit or the TdF, pretty much everyone who rides a bike can exceed the forces needed to _win_ the TdF.

The asthma meds etc don't "increase oxygen production" and nor is a lack of O2 an issue in getting it into the lungs. It's the delivery and useage of the O2 around the body which is a limiting factor

Just correcting these thoughts rather than making any suggestions as to whether they've 'doped' or not.

 

Mad amount off drivel there, some of it outright bilge, like  the 'strength isn't used in endurance' comedy - power, strength and endurance are all inter-related. And some of it convoluted nonsense, like the oxygen delivery. Clearly 'asthma' meds are being taken to maintain VO2 max in a different range of humidity that isn't easy to adapt to during world tours, something that hasn't been studied outside of the peloton.

Feel bad for the aplogists, this stuff must hurt them if they go into denial mode. I just plainly am not phased by it. But it is what it is - drug use. Loads of it. Tasty roids for breakfast.

 

WADA rules are merely goalposts, toyed around with over time. Just as everyone is free to choose their own goalposts. 

 

But don't make a tit of yourself and start cherry picking excuses.

 

 

Not sure where you got your definition of drivel from as Ric_Stern_RST post actually contains a very objective common sense view IMO.

And get your criticism right - 'Increases in strength aren't needed for endurance cycling' would in my view, be correct as stamina would be more important (otherwise the peloton would be turning far lower gears than they do) as opposed to your assertion that he claimed 'strength isn't used in endurance'

Oxygen delivery isn't nonsense either - muscles use oxygen, it's simple, so getting oxygen into and around the body is crucial to moving about, hence the use of EPO by certain former cyclists. I'm not sure why that's so hard to understand or ask questions about instead of replying wth poorly worded sarcasm.

Avatar
tritecommentbot replied to STiG911 | 8 years ago
2 likes

STiG911 wrote:

unconstituted wrote:

Ric_Stern_RST wrote:

unconstituted wrote:

budesonide (Pulmicort) is a 'regular' inhaler used for prevention of asthma (as opposed to a reliever such as salbutamol which stops an attack that has just happened). It may be available in other forms as well (e.g. a tablet) and i'm not sure how it was used in these instances. 

Increases in strength aren't needed for endurance cycling such as the pursuit or the TdF, pretty much everyone who rides a bike can exceed the forces needed to _win_ the TdF.

The asthma meds etc don't "increase oxygen production" and nor is a lack of O2 an issue in getting it into the lungs. It's the delivery and useage of the O2 around the body which is a limiting factor

Just correcting these thoughts rather than making any suggestions as to whether they've 'doped' or not.

 

Mad amount off drivel there, some of it outright bilge, like  the 'strength isn't used in endurance' comedy - power, strength and endurance are all inter-related. And some of it convoluted nonsense, like the oxygen delivery. Clearly 'asthma' meds are being taken to maintain VO2 max in a different range of humidity that isn't easy to adapt to during world tours, something that hasn't been studied outside of the peloton.

Feel bad for the aplogists, this stuff must hurt them if they go into denial mode. I just plainly am not phased by it. But it is what it is - drug use. Loads of it. Tasty roids for breakfast.

 

WADA rules are merely goalposts, toyed around with over time. Just as everyone is free to choose their own goalposts. 

 

But don't make a tit of yourself and start cherry picking excuses.

 

 

Not sure where you got your definition of drivel from as Ric_Stern_RST post actually contains a very objective common sense view IMO.

And get your criticism right - 'Increases in strength aren't needed for endurance cycling' would in my view, be correct as stamina would be more important (otherwise the peloton would be turning far lower gears than they do) as opposed to your assertion that he claimed 'strength isn't used in endurance'

Oxygen delivery isn't nonsense either - muscles use oxygen, it's simple, so getting oxygen into and around the body is crucial to moving about, hence the use of EPO by certain former cyclists. I'm not sure why that's so hard to understand or ask questions about instead of replying wth poorly worded sarcasm.

 

Again. Drivel. 

'Stamina being more important', and these are your words, doesn't mean that ' increases in strength aren't needed in endurance'. Cycling is strength, power, endurance and more. Not some binary game. You improve all any way you can get away with.

Just complete logic, meaning and rationality fail. 

 

And no-one said oxygen delivery is nonsense. I will wait for you to quote me saying that. I was saying that he was talking nonsense - clear as day. Specifically that him trying to discount the role of the lungs as being the only bottleneck as being nonsense. Try racing in cold for a few months then going somewhere humid and see how well you breathe. 

 

Bilge upon bilge upon bilge. Layers of the stuff. 

 

You guys are comedy.

Avatar
STiG911 replied to tritecommentbot | 8 years ago
4 likes

unconstituted wrote:

Again. Drivel. 

'Stamina being more important', and these are your words, doesn't mean that ' increases in strength aren't needed in endurance'. Cycling is strength, power, endurance and more. Not some binary game. You improve all any way you can get away with.

Just complete logic, meaning and rationality fail. 

 

And no-one sade oxygen delivery is nonsense. I was saying, clear as day, that him trying to discount the role of the lungs as being the only bottleneck as being nonsense. Try racing in cold for a few months then going somewhere humid and see how well you breathe. 

 

Bilge upon bilge upon bilge. Layers of the stuff. 

 

You guys are comedy.

Sorry  - didn't realise you were typing while ignorant.

Avatar
Ric_Stern_RST replied to tritecommentbot | 8 years ago
3 likes

unconstituted wrote:

Ric_Stern_RST wrote:

unconstituted wrote:

Saw the partial leak earlier - it was as expected - stacks of performance enchanging drugs being used. Literally, stacks. Steroids for strength and anything else to open up the airways, increasing oxygen production. If you don't have 'asthma' or 'allergies' and a compliant doctor, then you don't get stages. 

Bet if you draw up a graph of usage and race dates you'll see a rather predictable pattern. Froome rocking steroids at Dauphine for example, because of a vague 'inflammatory condition'.

Not bothered or surprised personally, though I did spot a steroid I hadn't heard of before from Wiggin's usage (budesonide). Thought I was a pretty clued up armchair doper 

All adds to the drama and history of the sport, good stuff!

 

budesonide (Pulmicort) is a 'regular' inhaler used for prevention of asthma (as opposed to a reliever such as salbutamol which stops an attack that has just happened). It may be available in other forms as well (e.g. a tablet) and i'm not sure how it was used in these instances. 

Increases in strength aren't needed for endurance cycling such as the pursuit or the TdF, pretty much everyone who rides a bike can exceed the forces needed to _win_ the TdF.

The asthma meds etc don't "increase oxygen production" and nor is a lack of O2 an issue in getting it into the lungs. It's the delivery and useage of the O2 around the body which is a limiting factor

Just correcting these thoughts rather than making any suggestions as to whether they've 'doped' or not.

 

Mad amount off drivel there, some of it outright bilge, like  the 'strength isn't used in endurance' comedy - power, strength and endurance are all inter-related. And some of it convoluted nonsense, like the oxygen delivery. Clearly 'asthma' meds are being taken to maintain VO2 max in a different range of humidity that isn't easy to adapt to during world tours, something that hasn't been studied outside of the peloton.

Feel bad for the aplogists, this stuff must hurt them if they go into denial mode. I just plainly am not phased by it. But it is what it is - drug use. Loads of it. Tasty roids for breakfast.

 

WADA rules are merely goalposts, toyed around with over time. Just as everyone is free to choose their own goalposts. 

 

But don't make a tit of yourself and start cherry picking excuses.

Unfortunately, you're wrong.

1) i'm a strong advocate of anti doping, and strongly against the use of drugs etc in sport, and recreationally

2) i haven't stated an opinion on whether i feel these or other athletes are doping in this instance, but have in the past with others

3) i'm no fan boy of either Wiggins or Froome

4) You clearly do not understand the actual physiological definitions of various terms and meanings. For e.g., power and strength are not inter related. That is, power is the sum of the retarding forces that must be overcome to travel at a specific velocity under specific conditions (there are other ways to state power as well), and strength is the maximal force that a muscle or group of muscles can generate. Strength isn't a requirement (as in huge amounts aren't needed, obviously everyone has strength) for endurance cycling performance, because even the forces required to say win a mountain TT are extremely small and can be met by just about anyone (but not everyone). For e.g., the average force required between both legs to *win* up Alpe d'Huez by an average sized male (~70kg) is about 255 N, or 26 kg (i.e., about 13 kg per leg). Given that standing up requires generating a force of about 700N (~70kg) for that male most people can do it...

5) Asthma meds are not used to maintain VO2max, but to maintain pulmonary function (or increase it when it has decreased due to eg. asthma. They're also used in premature labour to relax the uterine walls. They may have other uses as well). Data shows that such meds don't improve VO2max in either asthmatic or non-asthmatic subjects, but some data shows that the relievers improve sprint function. However, long acting relievers such as Serevent and short acting relievers are used to decrease body fat. They're used in some farm animals as well for this purpose. Animal studies looking at short and long acting beta2-agonists show changes (decreases) in body fat, sometimes increases in muscle mass, but no change in e.g. VO2max . Maintaining pulmonary function and returning peak flow etc to normal is different to VO2max (which looks at the entire respiratory chain to see how much O2 is being utilised at the venous end of the capillaries)

Ric

Avatar
tritecommentbot replied to Ric_Stern_RST | 8 years ago
2 likes

Ric_Stern_RST wrote:

unconstituted wrote:

Ric_Stern_RST wrote:

unconstituted wrote:

Saw the partial leak earlier - it was as expected - stacks of performance enchanging drugs being used. Literally, stacks. Steroids for strength and anything else to open up the airways, increasing oxygen production. If you don't have 'asthma' or 'allergies' and a compliant doctor, then you don't get stages. 

Bet if you draw up a graph of usage and race dates you'll see a rather predictable pattern. Froome rocking steroids at Dauphine for example, because of a vague 'inflammatory condition'.

Not bothered or surprised personally, though I did spot a steroid I hadn't heard of before from Wiggin's usage (budesonide). Thought I was a pretty clued up armchair doper 

All adds to the drama and history of the sport, good stuff!

 

budesonide (Pulmicort) is a 'regular' inhaler used for prevention of asthma (as opposed to a reliever such as salbutamol which stops an attack that has just happened). It may be available in other forms as well (e.g. a tablet) and i'm not sure how it was used in these instances. 

Increases in strength aren't needed for endurance cycling such as the pursuit or the TdF, pretty much everyone who rides a bike can exceed the forces needed to _win_ the TdF.

The asthma meds etc don't "increase oxygen production" and nor is a lack of O2 an issue in getting it into the lungs. It's the delivery and useage of the O2 around the body which is a limiting factor

Just correcting these thoughts rather than making any suggestions as to whether they've 'doped' or not.

 

Mad amount off drivel there, some of it outright bilge, like  the 'strength isn't used in endurance' comedy - power, strength and endurance are all inter-related. And some of it convoluted nonsense, like the oxygen delivery. Clearly 'asthma' meds are being taken to maintain VO2 max in a different range of humidity that isn't easy to adapt to during world tours, something that hasn't been studied outside of the peloton.

Feel bad for the aplogists, this stuff must hurt them if they go into denial mode. I just plainly am not phased by it. But it is what it is - drug use. Loads of it. Tasty roids for breakfast.

 

WADA rules are merely goalposts, toyed around with over time. Just as everyone is free to choose their own goalposts. 

 

But don't make a tit of yourself and start cherry picking excuses.

Unfortunately, you're wrong.

1) i'm a strong advocate of anti doping, and strongly against the use of drugs etc in sport, and recreationally

2) i haven't stated an opinion on whether i feel these or other athletes are doping in this instance, but have in the past with others

3) i'm no fan boy of either Wiggins or Froome

4) You clearly do not understand the actual physiological definitions of various terms and meanings. For e.g., power and strength are not inter related. That is, power is the sum of the retarding forces that must be overcome to travel at a specific velocity under specific conditions (there are other ways to state power as well), and strength is the maximal force that a muscle or group of muscles can generate. Strength isn't a requirement (as in huge amounts aren't needed, obviously everyone has strength) for endurance cycling performance, because even the forces required to say win a mountain TT are extremely small and can be met by just about anyone (but not everyone). For e.g., the average force required between both legs to *win* up Alpe d'Huez by an average sized male (~70kg) is about 255 N, or 26 kg (i.e., about 13 kg per leg). Given that standing up requires generating a force of about 700N (~70kg) for that male most people can do it...

5) Asthma meds are not used to maintain VO2max, but to maintain pulmonary function (or increase it when it has decreased due to eg. asthma. They're also used in premature labour to relax the uterine walls. They may have other uses as well). Data shows that such meds don't improve VO2max in either asthmatic or non-asthmatic subjects, but some data shows that the relievers improve sprint function. However, long acting relievers such as Serevent and short acting relievers are used to decrease body fat. They're used in some farm animals as well for this purpose. Animal studies looking at short and long acting beta2-agonists show changes (decreases) in body fat, sometimes increases in muscle mass, but no change in e.g. VO2max . Maintaining pulmonary function and returning peak flow etc to normal is different to VO2max (which looks at the entire respiratory chain to see how much O2 is being utilised at the venous end of the capillaries)

Ric

 

Good example of form over substance.

 

Power and strength are certainly related and has been studied.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232100672_The_Relation_Between_...

 

And no-one said asthma meds are used to maintain VO2 max. You're as bad as the other guy above making up things people say to make a random point. 

Avatar
gsavill90 (not verified) replied to tritecommentbot | 8 years ago
5 likes

unconstituted wrote:

Power and strength are certainly related and has been studied.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232100672_The_Relation_Between_...

 

I don't think that study on rugby league players is saying what you want it to say.

 

I await your personal attacks.

Avatar
number9dream replied to tritecommentbot | 8 years ago
4 likes

unconstituted wrote:

 

And no-one said asthma meds are used to maintain VO2 max. You're as bad as the other guy above making up things people say to make a random point. 

 

No one said this apart from you - and I quote from above:  "Clearly 'asthma' meds are being taken to maintain VO2 max..." 

 

As you say, comedy

Avatar
tritecommentbot replied to number9dream | 8 years ago
2 likes

number9dream wrote:

unconstituted wrote:

 

And no-one said asthma meds are used to maintain VO2 max. You're as bad as the other guy above making up things people say to make a random point. 

 

No one said this apart from you - and I quote from above:  "Clearly 'asthma' meds are being taken to maintain VO2 max..." 

 

As you say, comedy

 

Why cut off the quote? 

Here's all of it:

Clearly 'asthma' meds are being taken to maintain VO2 max in a different range of humidity that isn't easy to adapt to during world tours

 

And yes, I did say comedy, keep it coming.

Avatar
zanf replied to Ric_Stern_RST | 8 years ago
2 likes

Ric_Stern_RST wrote:

1) i'm a strong advocate of anti doping, and strongly against the use of drugs etc in sport, and recreationally

Oh.....

Well, you just lost my vote!

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