Chris Froome has heaped more pressure on Team Sky and his former team-mate Sir Bradley Wiggins by claiming anti-doping measures are ‘open to abuse’.
The three-time Tour de France winner also seemed to contradict the words of his Team Sky principal Sir David Brailsford by insisting he does not have a ‘win at all costs’ approach and has never pushed the boundaries of anti-doping rules.
And, in what appeared to be a reference to Wiggins’s attempts to explain why he applied for a therapeutic use exemption (TUE) for a banned steroid days before his last three Grand Tours, Froome added he thought athletes needed to ‘take responsibility for themselves’.
In his statement, released yesterday on his Twitter page and titled ‘my view’, Froome said: ‘I take my position in sport very seriously and I know that I have to not only abide by the rules, but also go above and beyond that to set a good example both morally and ethically.
‘It is clear that the TUE system is open to abuse and I believe that this is something the UCI (cycling’s governing body) and WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) need to urgently address.
‘At the same time, there are athletes who not only abide by the rules that are in place, but also those of fair play. I have never had a “win at all costs” approach in this regard. I am not looking to push the boundaries of the rules. That is something athletes need to take responsibility for themselves, until more stringent protocols can be put in place.’
Froome’s words came only 24 hours after Brailsford publicly defended Wiggins’s use of a banned steroid before races and insisted TUEs were justified if the drug in question was being used as a preventative measure.
The Team Sky chief, 52, said on Monday: ‘I’m on record for saying: “There is a line. You can go up to that line. But you do not go over it. You do not cheat in this team in any way, shape or form”.’
Wiggins said he applied for TUEs to ‘put himself back on a level playing field’ and that he did not use them ‘to find a way to gain anunfair advantage’.
The use of medical exemptions was exposed by hacking group Fancy Bears earlier this month with the documents showing Froome has twice been granted permission to take the banned steroid prednisolone in 2013 and 2014.
In Froome’s case, it was already known the cyclist suffered from exacerbated asthma and the leaks confirmed information previously in the public domain.
The debate over Wiggins’s use of banned drugs for medical purposes, however, rages on. Never have more questions been asked about the integrity of the cyclist and Team Sky, with whom he became the first Briton to win the Tour de France.
Brailsford intends to speak to his riders, including Froome, to see if they will agree to have their TUEs published to dismiss any secrecy around the process.
But while Froome called on anti-doping authorities to address the system, WADA yesterday said athletes had a ‘fundamental human right’ to keep medical information confidential and insisted the TUE process was ‘rigorous and necessary’.
Daily Mail