Someone I work with absolutely despises this man. He said he was at a charity function where Wiggins was the guest of honour and when his wife asked for a photo he got his personal security to get her away, with my colleague hearing him call her an irritating cow. When my colleague called him out for it he had his security throw him out... of a charity event!
I understand if it is in the street but why does he need security? and why would he agree to attend a charity function if he didn't want attention?
Needless to say my colleague is very chipper this morning, and with the news of the tax dodging as well he sees that he has had his comeuppance.
I suspect he was `guest of honour' because he was being paid for it. The security would be to prevent pesky journalists asking awkward questions.
Difficult to get an "unfair advantage" when everyone is doing it, and the other teams do use TUE's frequently. Yes, it may be morally wrong, but so is tripping a guy when he is through on goal, or claiming a goal kick when you know you have tipped it over. Sports rarely rely on morals (even cricket has become corrupt in many ways!), and cycling is starting from a bad place.
It's pointless even arguing about it. Comparing TUEs with the days of EPO, Roids, Testosterone, HGH, Motoman and Fuentes is ridiculous - but people don't understand (or want to understand) the difference between them. Sky have fucked up completely in trying to portray a whiter than white image whilst doing exactly the same thing as every other cycling team is doing behind the scenes - going right up to the line without crossing it.
If anybody is naive enough to think that this isn't going on in every top level sport then more fool them. If anything, cycling is likely to be CLEANER than other sports - simply because the Armstrong bullshit was a watershed moment. If anyone doubts this, look at the testing regime for cyclists compared to footballers (for instance). The average Premier league footballer can be expected to be tested three times over four years (far less further down the tree). The average pro cyclist will be tested FIFTEEN times PER YEAR.
There is nothing new in the DCMS report. At all. Its exactly the same hearsay, innuendo and half facts as were printed months ago. It's just another opportunity to drag it up again, for the amusement of the chattering classes. But that shouldn't be surprising - the whole thing has been orchestrated by the Daily Mail from start to finish.
Best thing about this is that Sky will now pull out, and cycling can go back to being what it always was - a niche sport enjoyed by people who understand it, rather than a nouveau-pop one wittered on about by people who will quickly move on to something else (snowboarding or something)
And - before anybody accuses me of being a fanboi - I despise Sky and everything they do to strangle the life out of the sport.
I listened to an interview with a doctor, an expert in the field of respiratory medicine this morning on talksport and he said there would have been next-to-no performing enhancements at best. At worst, the drug encourages muscle breakdown in the hips and shoulders and would have hindered him more than helped him.
That’s enough for me to make up my mind. That’s a totally unbiased medical opinion with no links to Sky or Bradley.
Team Sky have dropped a massive clanger with their record keeping, no question.
I’m surprised to say the least at how many people are looking to throw him under the bus. Whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty?
Long read, but I found this post from reddit (originally cycling news) quite interesting.
From the cyclingnews comment section. Way too good to not post here. By a "J Evans":
It's all perfectly reasonable.
And one day I'll come out and tell the full story - but not now. Let me explain, though.
Only today, I went to my doctor and they had no medical records for me because they keep them all on one single computer. And my doctor takes that computer on holiday. Then, it got stolen. The doctor had forgotten to back-up his files. Not a one-time mistake - he did this over years, despite his vast experience as a doctor. And no-one in the doctor's organisation ever checked those medical files - not once - so no-one knew that they didn't exist.
But why would anyone – including the other doctors – check my medical files? Or those of any other rider. Fortunately, the organisation managed to wipe my doctor’s stolen computer remotely – the lord only knows how.
They could do that, but could not extract the data from it – the lord only knows how. This organisation also got me a prescription from France and flew it to me here in Britain, even though there was a pharmacist down the road where I could buy it over the counter.
I also take a much, much stronger drug - which many people say I shouldn't take. I take this drug very sporadically - only three times in my life. Otherwise, I don't need it.
But I definitely needed it those three times in my life – just before grand tours. The doctor had a large supply of this drug at his surgery: 55-70 doses.
Far more than he needed for the doses that I was supposed to have taken. So, I could have been taking those extra doses at different times – legally out of competition, but also I could have taken it in competition because as I had a note saying I was allowed to take the drug and so they'd never know if I took it more than once.
The note I got in 2011 was actually given to me before I even had the medical. And in 2012, I took my special drug 6 weeks after my medical examination that it was based on. But then who doesn’t wait a month and a half to take a drug they desperately need? And I desperately needed it because before I had that medical note I was only able to win a week-long bike races up mountains against the best riders in the world by one minute.
Our riders have been noticeably thin and sickly for a number of years. And they often perform much better than previously once they join our team. I wonder how many others are taking my special drug and how often.
Lots of people who have also been involved with this organisation have said that they have been given or offered a few different drugs, which is all legal, so that's fine. Maybe they were taking these extra doses of the extra strong drug too, which is legal out of competition. But I've no idea, because we're a very disorganised bunch and we don't keep medical records – despite this being a legal requirement for doctors. We even got some bad drugs delivered accidentally, either that or we ordered them and then asked the supplier to say we didn't. My doctor's poorly, so no-one can ask him what's going on. But the General Medical Council probably will soon. I think he might be a ‘rogue doctor’.
That might be what the boss decides.
They might have to blame the boss because once they get rid of him everyone will just assume that it’s all fine now and will stop asking questions like ‘Who were the 55-70 doses of dangerous and performance-enhancing corticosteroids for – which and how many riders take them?’
The boss must be getting forgetful because he said he didn’t know anything about my special drug. But then he said that he’d taken it himself.
The colleague I don’t like is really good now. He keeps talking about how he doesn’t take drugs and he wants to be tested more. But then it turns out he has magic kidneys that turn themselves off and on again – how else could he have twice as much salbutamol in his system as he should do? So, he must be innocent. Which is a shame because he is my enemy.
A lot of the drugs – corticosteroids (out of competition) and tramadol, for instance – are legal. That means they’re ok to take. Even though they have effects like damaging the immune system and causing dizziness (man, those descents in the Giro were difficult). And then there are those pesky testosterone patches – but that was all just a big whoopsy-mistake, as I say above: they were maybe ordered or maybe not ordered, but no-one used them. God, we do well in the track olympic cycling. All I know is everything's absolutely fine and people should just trust us.
It’s all good for British cycling – look how many medals we’ve won. Look at my medals.
If this is true, you can bet the other teams are also doing it. The only reason any of this came to light was thanks to Russian hackers releasing the TUE certificates otherwise we wouldn't have had a scooby.
Its the most corrupt sport going, you not seen the documentary 'icarus' ? Main guy in that mentioned during the winter olympics that we had bent athletes... this has probably came to light from that.
It's pointless even arguing about it. Comparing TUEs with the days of EPO, Roids, Testosterone, HGH, Motoman and Fuentes is ridiculous - but people don't understand (or want to understand) the difference between them. Sky have fucked up completely in trying to portray a whiter than white image whilst doing exactly the same thing as every other cycling team is doing behind the scenes - going right up to the line without crossing it.
If anybody is naive enough to think that this isn't going on in every top level sport then more fool them. If anything, cycling is likely to be CLEANER than other sports - simply because the Armstrong bullshit was a watershed moment. If anyone doubts this, look at the testing regime for cyclists compared to footballers (for instance). The average Premier league footballer can be expected to be tested three times over four years (far less further down the tree). The average pro cyclist will be tested FIFTEEN times PER YEAR.
There is nothing new in the DCMS report. At all. Its exactly the same hearsay, innuendo and half facts as were printed months ago. It's just another opportunity to drag it up again, for the amusement of the chattering classes. But that shouldn't be surprising - the whole thing has been orchestrated by the Daily Mail from start to finish.
Best thing about this is that Sky will now pull out, and cycling can go back to being what it always was - a niche sport enjoyed by people who understand it, rather than a nouveau-pop one wittered on about by people who will quickly move on to something else (snowboarding or something)
And - before anybody accuses me of being a fanboi - I despise Sky and everything they do to strangle the life out of the sport.
What has annoyed me is the moral stance Sky has always attempted to take. Wiggins has always been cut an enormous amount of slack because he's British and the British public seem to have difficulty accepting that some of our athletes may bend the rules.
The explanations given by Sky and Wiggins have been faintly ludicrous - whoever is abusing Wiggins about PR is doing a poor job. If the TUE is abused then it's cheating pure and simple - It's not a standard asthma drug we're talking about here and its performance enhancing qualities are well known. David Millar who was caught for doping has written about the use of the drug.
What irritates me most about Wiggins is his attempt to portray himself as a victim. I'd love him to come out and sue those who he feels have spoken about him unfairly.
His national treasure status is surely dead and buried. I hope a proper investigation is undertaken re the workings of Team Sky.
Hmmm...there I was in Richmond Park cheering on Bradley to his gold medal (all of two seconds of him that flashed by). Makes me sad that our Olympic hero may have been a cheat. But think about this. When cycling, you are very hunched up over the handlebars which contracts the lungs, surely very bad for breathing and asthma for sufferers in general? Does pro cycling actually induce asthma?
I listened to an interview with a doctor, an expert in the field of respiratory medicine this morning on talksport and he said there would have been next-to-no performing enhancements at best. At worst, the drug encourages muscle breakdown in the hips and shoulders and would have hindered him more than helped him.
That’s enough for me to make up my mind. That’s a totally unbiased medical opinion with no links to Sky or Bradley.
Team Sky have dropped a massive clanger with their record keeping, no question.
I’m surprised to say the least at how many people are looking to throw him under the bus. Whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty?
I have listened to various doctors debating about how useful it is and there are numerous articles on the issue - what seems to be the common thread is that its use in cycling is as a perceived performance enhancer. This is not a commonly used drug.
I listened to an interview with a doctor, an expert in the field of respiratory medicine this morning on talksport and he said there would have been next-to-no performing enhancements at best. At worst, the drug encourages muscle breakdown in the hips and shoulders and would have hindered him more than helped him.
That’s enough for me to make up my mind. That’s a totally unbiased medical opinion with no links to Sky or Bradley.
Team Sky have dropped a massive clanger with their record keeping, no question.
I’m surprised to say the least at how many people are looking to throw him under the bus. Whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty?
If that was true, do you seriously believe he would've taken a drug that hindered him?!
He even admits himself it was performance enhancing.
However Wiggins did accept that his use of triamcinolone could have enhanced his performances, albeit unintentionally.
"Intention, that's the key to it" he said.
"Was there a performance enhancement? You tell me there was. There may well have been, yeah, but they were the rules at the time to treat this problem. That's what I was prescribed. I can't change the last five years."
If this is true, you can bet the other teams are also doing it. The only reason any of this came to light was thanks to Russian hackers releasing the TUE certificates otherwise we wouldn't have had a scooby.
Its the most corrupt sport going, you not seen the documentary 'icarus' ? Main guy in that mentioned during the winter olympics that we had bent athletes... this has probably came to light from that.
Think you make a very valid point, I expect that every sport has "unethical" ways not just cycling. I maintain if Sky and Wiggins are doing it then you can bet everyone else is. Rules are bent everywhere, tax avoidance for example, nothing is whiter than white.
Have Icarus on my watch list, one for the train trip on Thursday methinks!
I listened to an interview with a doctor, an expert in the field of respiratory medicine this morning on talksport and he said there would have been next-to-no performing enhancements at best. At worst, the drug encourages muscle breakdown in the hips and shoulders and would have hindered him more than helped him.
That’s enough for me to make up my mind. That’s a totally unbiased medical opinion with no links to Sky or Bradley.
Team Sky have dropped a massive clanger with their record keeping, no question.
I’m surprised to say the least at how many people are looking to throw him under the bus. Whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty?
If that was true, do you seriously believe he would've taken a drug that hindered him?!
He even admits himself it was performance enhancing.
However Wiggins did accept that his use of triamcinolone could have enhanced his performances, albeit unintentionally.
"Intention, that's the key to it" he said.
"Was there a performance enhancement? You tell me there was. There may well have been, yeah, but they were the rules at the time to treat this problem. That's what I was prescribed. I can't change the last five years."
He should just keep his head down but now it's a bit late.
I saw it. It was cringeworthy. Yes he has Asthma and yes he qualifies for the medical exemption - but to suddenly need the drug just before a demanding stage where it might give (however slight) an advantage doesn't feel ethically right.
You could argue it is the most likely time to need it if you have asthma - just playing devil's advocate here!
I think what has hacked me off the most is British cycling trying to adopt the moral high ground. If you're bending the rules don't try and pretend that you're above it.
The same thing has happened in Athletics with Sebastian Coe frequently being unable to give a straight answer about doping.
Doping seems to be inevitable especially in endurance sports.
Comments
Can't believe they're the only ones though.
If anybody is naive enough to think that this isn't going on in every top level sport then more fool them. If anything, cycling is likely to be CLEANER than other sports - simply because the Armstrong bullshit was a watershed moment. If anyone doubts this, look at the testing regime for cyclists compared to footballers (for instance). The average Premier league footballer can be expected to be tested three times over four years (far less further down the tree). The average pro cyclist will be tested FIFTEEN times PER YEAR.
There is nothing new in the DCMS report. At all. Its exactly the same hearsay, innuendo and half facts as were printed months ago. It's just another opportunity to drag it up again, for the amusement of the chattering classes. But that shouldn't be surprising - the whole thing has been orchestrated by the Daily Mail from start to finish.
Best thing about this is that Sky will now pull out, and cycling can go back to being what it always was - a niche sport enjoyed by people who understand it, rather than a nouveau-pop one wittered on about by people who will quickly move on to something else (snowboarding or something)
And - before anybody accuses me of being a fanboi - I despise Sky and everything they do to strangle the life out of the sport.
That’s enough for me to make up my mind. That’s a totally unbiased medical opinion with no links to Sky or Bradley.
Team Sky have dropped a massive clanger with their record keeping, no question.
I’m surprised to say the least at how many people are looking to throw him under the bus. Whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty?
On a slightly connected note - I see that Icarus won an Oscar the other night. That was a very interesting watch.
Its the most corrupt sport going, you not seen the documentary 'icarus' ? Main guy in that mentioned during the winter olympics that we had bent athletes... this has probably came to light from that.
The explanations given by Sky and Wiggins have been faintly ludicrous - whoever is abusing Wiggins about PR is doing a poor job.
If the TUE is abused then it's cheating pure and simple - It's not a standard asthma drug we're talking about here and its performance enhancing qualities are well known. David Millar who was caught for doping has written about the use of the drug.
What irritates me most about Wiggins is his attempt to portray himself as a victim. I'd love him to come out and sue those who he feels have spoken about him unfairly.
His national treasure status is surely dead and buried. I hope a proper investigation is undertaken re the workings of Team Sky.
Sky's record keeping is laughable at best.
He even admits himself it was performance enhancing.
However Wiggins did accept that his use of triamcinolone could have enhanced his performances, albeit unintentionally.
"Intention, that's the key to it" he said.
"Was there a performance enhancement? You tell me there was. There may well have been, yeah, but they were the rules at the time to treat this problem. That's what I was prescribed. I can't change the last five years."
Have Icarus on my watch list, one for the train trip on Thursday methinks!
The same thing has happened in Athletics with Sebastian Coe frequently being unable to give a straight answer about doping.
Doping seems to be inevitable especially in endurance sports.