Freeman denies crossing the line in treating Bradley Wiggins and Team Sky riders
Former Team Sky doctor Richard Freeman has broken the silence he has held since the so-called 'jiffy bag' affair broke in October 2016, and has denied that any treatments he prescribed were intended for performance enhancement. Freeman admitted to ordering the delivery of a medical resupply, and to treating Bradley Wiggins at the 2011 Criterium du Dauphine, but insisted that the package received from Simon Cope contained the decongestant Fluimucil, as Sky principal Dave Brailsford testified before a Parliamentary select committee.
When asked by BBC journalist Dan Roan about the 'jiffy bag', Freeman stated it contained "Fluimucil nebules". Why he didn't simply buy the medication in France, Freeman added, "Fluimucil nebulised solution isn't available in France on prescription. It's made in Switzerland, and they don't sell it in France... so I could not physically buy it in France, with or without a prescription. The confusion is the effervescent powder which is used to treat the common cold is available over the counter throughout Europe and is popular."
Freeman told the BBC that he did not give Wiggins any medication on the bus after the Dauphine, as was alleged. "I was administering fluimucil to Bradley, and obviously I can't say about other riders but you can imagine that one rider may not have been the only rider, throughout the race of the Dauphine and then I administered it again when we got to the training camp in Sestriere. I did not administer anything to Sir Bradley Wiggins on the bus at the Dauphine after the race."
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The delivery of a package from Manchester by Simon Cope to Team Sky for Wiggins came under investigation by UKAD soon after Russian hackers made public Wiggins' Therapeutic Use Exemption applications that included one from June 29, 2011 - two weeks after the finish of the race - for an intramuscular injection of 40mg of Triamcinolone acetonide, a powerful steroids Wiggins says was to treat bad allergies.
- Full transcript of BBC interview with Dr. Richard Freeman
- Timeline of UKAD investigation into Team Sky and British Cycling
- Wiggins and Team Sky face fresh scrutiny over medical package
- Cope and Freeman asked to appear in front of doping inquiry
- Bradley Wiggins doctor pulls out of anti-doping select hearing due to illness
There was an accusation that the jiffy back contained triamcinolone, a point Freeman flatly denied. He also questioned the motivations of whomever sparked UKAD's investigation into the package, which went on for more than a year before being dropped without any anti-doping rule violations being issued.
The House of Commons Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee's report on 'Combating Doping in Sport', however, contained scathing criticisms of Team Sky and British Cycling and led to sweeping changes in the Federation's leadership and practices.
Breakdown
Triamcinolone
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