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Questions for Team Sky over how Fluimucil was administered to Sir Bradley Wiggins

Froome attempts to distance himself from controversy

Team Sky has declined to comment on how the Fluimucil said to have been delivered to the 2011 Criterium du Dauphiné was administered to Sir Bradley Wiggins. Sir Dave Brailsford and Dr Richard Freeman told The Guardian that they could not comment until after the investigation currently being carried out by UK Anti-Doping (Ukad).

In his testimony before the select committee for culture, media and sport, Brailsford said that he had been told that the substance in the now infamous package was Fluimucil, and described it as “a decongestant that you put in a nebuliser.”

However, Fluimucil is also available in tablet form and as a preparation to be injected. In a 2014 interview with Paul Kimmage, Chris Froome stated that when riding for the Barloworld team, before signing for Sky in 2010, he had (legally) been given injections of the substance for recuperation purposes.

This has been confirmed by the team’s doctor, Massimiliano Mantovani, who said: “It is the only antioxidant that has been tested and shown to work. It was used only for recovery, not to enhance performance, it is better by injection as the absorption is more efficient. It’s a very small injection, about 2-3ml. It was totally legal, absolutely legal.”

Team Sky was founded with a “no needles” policy. In May 2011, the UCI adopted a similar measure, allowing injections only when they are “medically justified based on latest recognised scientific knowledge and evidence based medicine.”

Shane Sutton, who was Wiggins’ coach in 2011, told the Commons select committee that the contents of the package had been “administered” to Wiggins by Freeman, but did not say how this had been done.

Both Brailsford and Freeman cited the ongoing Ukad enquiry when asked to comment by the Guardian.

The newspaper also asked Brailsford to comment on an allegation that the team had been using recovery products such as vitamins and amino acids prior to the needle ban, but received no answer.

Ukad chief brands evidence given to Commons select committee ‘extraordinary’ and ‘very disappointing’

Of course much of this presupposes that the Dauphiné package did in fact contain Fluimucil. The chair of the select committee, Damian Collins MP, said that British Cycling had been unable to supply documentation to back up this assertion.

Ukad chairman, David Kenworthy, told the BBC:

"There's still no definite answer from anyone who was involved. I still don't know what was in there; I'm no nearer finding out than you are.

"People could remember a package that was delivered to France, they can remember who asked for it, they can remember the route it took, who delivered it, the times it arrived. The select committee has got expense sheets and travel documents.

"So everybody can remember this from five years ago, but no-one can remember what was in the package. That strikes me as being extraordinary. It is very disappointing."

Asked about Brailsford's Fluimucil explanation, Kenworthy added: "Well that's what Dave Brailsford came out with at the hearing. But actually, if you recall, he didn't say: 'I know that's what it was'. He said: 'I have been told that's what it was'.”

Froome attempts to distance himself from controversy

Chris Froome offered only ambiguous support for Brailsford during a press conference on Friday. Asked whether Sky’s team principal retained sufficient credibility to defend his riders when they are almost inevitably questioned during this year’s Tour de France, he replied: “That’s not for me to say.”

Asked again, he answered: “You’d have to ask him that. I don’t know how he is going to respond.”

Froome said he had seen little of Brailsford since the autumn, apart from at training camps. Asked whether he still retained faith in him, he said: “Dave himself has put his hand up and said he has made mistakes. I think if you look at what Dave has actually done, the team he has put together, I think we’ve got a great group of guys with values in the right place.”

Froome also confirmed that he had rejected a therapeutic use exemption (TUE) to treat a medical condition during his 2015 Tour de France win and said he had done so on moral grounds.

Having been granted TUEs in May 2013 and April 2014, Froome chose not to apply for one when he was advised to do so during the 2015 Tour, and explained: "I didn't feel having a TUE in the last week of the Tour was something I was prepared to do. It did not sit well morally with me."

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22 comments

Avatar
Stumps | 7 years ago
0 likes

Just for the sake of arguement, lets say Sky are cheating and using drugs. Look at how many riders they have hired then moved on who are still performing well and winning stages and races for other teams.

So are the other teams who have hired ex Sky riders also cheating and are also not being caught out ?

Also do Sky on their 24m budget (approx) have the scientific ability to hide all the illegal substances every rider will have taken considering the advances of science.

Or in the end does this come down to a massive PR failure and the word of a journo who wants to make a name for himself.

And as for that buffoon who's running the select committee you just have to look at his comments about the new football World Cup format to realise he's bloody clueless.  

 

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davel | 7 years ago
0 likes

oops - forgot the /sarcasm tag... Sorry folks 

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Yorkshire wallet | 7 years ago
0 likes

Davel - Is that doctor prescribed gear or DIY gear you're taking?

Avatar
alansmurphy | 7 years ago
1 like

Davel - even in your example above I would suggest you are gaining from using the steroids - if exercise makes you tired and the roids counter this then you are more likely to exercise and thus receive benefit.

 

If you apply this to someone that spends 24/7 thinking about diet, training, preformance, recovery et al then it becomes a much bigger piece of the jigsaw puzzle!

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Stumps | 7 years ago
0 likes

So then ianrobo- a reporter from the regularly castigated cycling hating daily mail says he's telling the truth and a reporter who spat his dummy out with sky says blah blah blah and all of a sudden they are both right !!!!
Oh hang on its about sky which is your favourite team to troll about so therefore it's obviously true. Even Skyvhater daddyelvis has not raised his head over this parapet, perhaps he knows the truth as well ?????

Avatar
davel | 7 years ago
0 likes

But intent is everything, isn't it??

I've been taking steroids for years, because exercise makes me tired - not to enhance my performance in any way. I can categorically prove that I have received no performance benefit (I perform regular checks vs the non-steroid me from a parallel universe) and they have only helped with recovery.

I would never take them with the intention of enhancing cycling performance - I'm not a dirty cheat! - although my wife does like my big muscles.

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alansmurphy | 7 years ago
0 likes

Chris Froome stated that when riding for the Barloworld team, before signing for Sky in 2010, he had (legally) been given injections of the substance for recuperation purposes.

This has been confirmed by the team’s doctor, Massimiliano Mantovani, who said: “It is the only antioxidant that has been tested and shown to work. It was used only for recovery, not to enhance performance, it is better by injection as the absorption is more efficient.

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

I like Brad, I like Froomey and Team Sky. There are issues here with regards to the language used and what is acceptable, also how it is reported.

 

Wiggins use of TUE's should only have been used to highlight the problems with TUE's and not to suggest he was cheating, he was not. The problem is that this adds so much doubt into this second issue that it is clouding the issue.

 

The same with the above, Froome is trying to distance himself and hold the moral high ground whilst admitting that he had the same injections. Suggesting that aiding recuperation doesn't impact performance is also madness! 

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KarlM77 | 7 years ago
0 likes

Interviews with David Walsh & Matt Lawson.

Walsh's is particularly interesting given his time 'inside' the team.

http://www.newstalk.com/podcasts/Off_The_Ball/Highlights_from_Off_The_Ball/

 

Scroll down to episodes dated Dec 19th, 21st & Jan 4th.

Avatar
Yorkshire wallet | 7 years ago
1 like

Being Bradley goes like this at the moment.....

Say do don't like something - be found to have done it in the past or now intend to do it in the future.

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ianrobo | 7 years ago
3 likes

well one reason they avoid is that Brad Wiggins himself said in was against needles then of course had a TUE for one ...

It is not the UCI policy thats sucha  problem but everything we have seen is agains twhat he wrote in his books.

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Stumps | 7 years ago
1 like

More shit getting spouted it seems.

Can they prove any wrongdoing at all - no they cant other than giving out crap comments, a total PR fail.

So will all the people who only come out from under their rocks when Sky are accused of wrongdoing please fcuk off back under them.

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beezus fufoon replied to Stumps | 7 years ago
2 likes

Stumps wrote:

More shit getting spouted it seems.

Can they prove any wrongdoing at all - no they cant other than giving out crap comments, a total PR fail.

So will all the people who only come out from under their rocks when Sky are accused of wrongdoing please fcuk off back under them.

hmm, I can just imagine Lance Armstrong saying those very words... just sayin'

Avatar
ianrobo replied to beezus fufoon | 7 years ago
4 likes

beezus fufoon wrote:

Stumps wrote:

More shit getting spouted it seems.

Can they prove any wrongdoing at all - no they cant other than giving out crap comments, a total PR fail.

So will all the people who only come out from under their rocks when Sky are accused of wrongdoing please fcuk off back under them.

hmm, I can just imagine Lance Armstrong saying those very words... just sayin'

difference here is even the most ardent Sky reporters finally turned their back on them, no one believes them apart from the fan boys. Stumps, the package is key, they mentioned a drug which was nonsense, you know it was nonsense.

Matt Lawton who has run with this from the start has been told what was really in the package but legally can not say (thats familair with Walsh/LA) and once it comes out will you find an excuse for it ?

 

Avatar
Rich_cb replied to ianrobo | 7 years ago
2 likes
ianrobo wrote:

beezus fufoon wrote:

Stumps wrote:

More shit getting spouted it seems.

Can they prove any wrongdoing at all - no they cant other than giving out crap comments, a total PR fail.

So will all the people who only come out from under their rocks when Sky are accused of wrongdoing please fcuk off back under them.

hmm, I can just imagine Lance Armstrong saying those very words... just sayin'

difference here is even the most ardent Sky reporters finally turned their back on them, no one believes them apart from the fan boys. Stumps, the package is key, they mentioned a drug which was nonsense, you know it was nonsense.

Matt Lawton who has run with this from the start has been told what was really in the package but legally can not say (thats familair with Walsh/LA) and once it comes out will you find an excuse for it ?

 

I don't think they lied about the drug itself.

It is the route of administration they haven't been clear about.

N-acetyl Cysteine (fluimucil) has been proven to enhance recovery in athletes when injected.

This used to be common practice in the peloton but would clearly have contradicted the 'no needles' policy.

IMHO this is the reason for the vagueness from DB etc.

Avatar
ianrobo replied to Rich_cb | 7 years ago
4 likes

Rich_cb]</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>[quote wrote:

I don't think they lied about the drug itself. It is the route of administration they haven't been clear about. N-acetyl Cysteine (fluimucil) has been proven to enhance recovery in athletes when injected. This used to be common practice in the peloton but would clearly have contradicted the 'no needles' policy. IMHO this is the reason for the vagueness from DB etc.

That no needles policy was blown apart by the TUE for BW and despite him kept saying no needles he did exactly that just before a tour.

If the drug was as stated then BW should not have had the drug it is not to be used for asthmatics (oh come on he is one, right) and why would you want to administer such a drug 4 days after he wanted it (it is a decongestant remember so 4 days is rather late).

Nothing in this whole story adds up at all, the press finally know it, DB knows it, the Select committe know it and UKAD knows it.

BTW after promising medical redcords would be with UKAD within two days, still waiting ...

Avatar
Rich_cb replied to ianrobo | 7 years ago
2 likes
ianrobo wrote:

That no needles policy was blown apart by the TUE for BW and despite him kept saying no needles he did exactly that just before a tour.

If the drug was as stated then BW should not have had the drug it is not to be used for asthmatics (oh come on he is one, right) and why would you want to administer such a drug 4 days after he wanted it (it is a decongestant remember so 4 days is rather late).

Nothing in this whole story adds up at all, the press finally know it, DB knows it, the Select committe know it and UKAD knows it.

BTW after promising medical redcords would be with UKAD within two days, still waiting ...

The UCI no needles policy doesn't apply to TUEs so the previously reported steroid injections wouldn't have breached it.

Injecting NAC would have though.

There would be no way of testing for this as, I believe, nebulised or oral NAC is not prohibited.

It seems that DB and Sky are being deliberately vague in order to disguise the route of administration, same reason they could not have obtained it from a local chemist, there would have been records of which preparation was bought.

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Valbrona | 7 years ago
2 likes

Froome is above this team.

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ianrobo | 7 years ago
2 likes

Froome is only trying to sperate himself from DB, surely no one thinks he is clean after a remarkable rise within a year from a no-one to 2nd int he Vuelta, yeah that was clean?

Oh today the head at UKAD basically called Sky's appearance at the Commons a total joke, my tprediction is within 4 weeks DB will out, the package will be revealed to be a doping product and a major crisis for Sky and British cycling.

Avatar
keirik | 7 years ago
0 likes

Your headline is spelt incorrectly, it should be

 

"Froome digs the knife into as many people as possible because he has a chip on his shoulder"

 

 

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atlaz replied to keirik | 7 years ago
2 likes

keirik wrote:

Your headline is spelt incorrectly, it should be

 

"Froome digs the knife into as many people as possible because he has a chip on his shoulder"

 

 

 

Chip on his shoulder about what? Winning 3 TdFs and still being asked to comment on the shit that Wiggins, British Cycling and his team bosses did? I think most people would get the hump.

Avatar
atlaz | 7 years ago
1 like

Quick question; why is it only Sky being asked these questions, surely Wiggins has some ability to give clarity if nothing is wrong. It seems Froome gets asked far more often about it than Wiggins has spoken about it. Brad is happy to talk about The Jump but not about his sporting legacy... unless The Jump WILL be his sporting legacy when this is all over and done with.

Avatar
davel | 7 years ago
5 likes

"OK, bear with me. It was exactly this long, weighed 1.497kg and I've got its exact journey checkpoints and times here.

But no - I don't know what was in it. Nobody ever tells me anything. I know - megalolz, innit."

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