cycling: Team Sky under pressure: DCMS report raises serious allegations

Cycling: Team Sky is still under pressure. while in Case of Chris Froome nothing is going forward, the British team is being investigated in the background on several levels. As the current DCMS report wants to prove, Team Sky is said to have obtained medical exemptions in recent years. It seems only a matter of time before the bomb goes off and the whole truth is revealed. British media are even talking about a possible fatal blow for the British team this Monday.

Team Sky is said to have obtained special permits by fraud

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) published an explosive report on Monday. In it, the Ministry of Sport accuses Team Sky of abusing performance-enhancing drugs. For example, medical exemptions (TUE, Therapeutic Use Exemption) were obtained by fraud in order to improve athletic performance from 2011 onwards. This also includes the one under the name "mystery package" known Bradley Wiggins case. The Sports Ministry continues to believe that it did not contain the cough medicine Fluimucil, but the corticoid triamcinolone. Overall, the DCMS report mainly accuses Team Sky of having used doping substances within the permitted framework – through a TUE and without actual medical necessity. With that “crossed an ethical line”. Finally, in order to be able to spark more power against doping abuse in the future, the Ministry of Sport calls for the Anti-Doping Agency to be given greater powers and resources.

Wiggins denies / British media fear deathblow

As expected, the reactions to the explosive DCMS report could not have been more different. While Bradley Wiggins continues to deny all allegations, the British media attach great importance to the report. After all, this is not a report from a media institution or isolated discoveries by a journalist, but from the British Ministry of Sport. In the press landscape on the island, there is even talk of the death knell for Team Sky. If we look at developments over the past few months, this fear is not far-fetched. Just a few days ago, former team doctor Richard Freeman was informed of the Daily Mail accused of Ordered a testosterone patch to have.

Bradley Wiggins:
"I find it sad that allegations can be made of people being accused of things they never did. But they are taken as facts.”

British Cycling is also under pressure

In addition to the direct criticism of Team Sky, the British Cycling Association is also under a lot of pressure as a result of the DCMS report. At the time, the lines between British Cycling and Team Sky were barely recognizable. In the meantime, however, this has changed, according to CEO Julie Harrington, who has only been in office since May 2017 and has been able to initiate some changes since then.

Julie Harington:
“Today there are clear boundaries and differences between us: nobody is employed by British Cycling and Team Sky at the same time. We each have our own practices for managing athlete records. Never again will we allow a situation where our independence as a national governing body is called into question because of relationships with a professional team. Our reforms aim to ensure that the shortcomings identified in the Committee's inquiry will never recur. We remain committed to ensuring that our organization can stand up to the highest standards. This is a work that can never be called finished. It requires constant vigilance and review.”