Sir Bradley Wiggins has vowed to “shock a few people” when he finally has his say on doping allegations. The five-times Olympic champion and Tour de France winner describes claims he may have broken anti-doping rules – which he strongly denies – as “the worst thing to be accused of when you’re a man of my integrity”.
The former Team Sky rider promised he would have a lot to say when UK Anti-Doping (Ukad) finishes its investigation into allegations that he was injected with triamcinolone, a powerful corticosteroid, at the end of the 2011 Critérium du Dauphiné race.
“It’s been horrible, but fortunately there is an investigation going on,” Wiggins said, speaking on Sky Sports’ Soccer AM. “It’s the worst thing to be accused of when you’re a man of my integrity, if you like, and what I’ve done to get where I am today.
“I obviously can’t say too much because [the investigation] will run its course and then I’ll have my say. There’s a lot to say and it’s going to shock a few people.”
On Friday, in his first public appearance since breaking a leg on the celebrity skiing competition The Jump, Wiggins had criticised the culture of Team Sky and its principal, Sir David Brailsford. He said at a corporate event in the City of London: “I think it’s [marginal gains] a load of rubbish, if I’m honest. A lot of people made a lot of money out of it and David Brailsford used it constantly as his calling card. But I always thought it was a load of rubbish.”
Saturday’s promise can been seen as Wiggins further distancing himself from Sky and Brailsford who, along with the Tour de France champion and the sport’s governing body, British Cycling, have endured a torrid few months.
Sky have been under scrutiny since the autumn when it was revealed Ukad was looking into a claim Wiggins was injected with triamcinolone in 2011.
Thanks to the Fancy Bears computer hackers, it emerged in September that Wiggins was given permission for jabs of the otherwise-banned drug before his three biggest races in 2011, 2012 and 2013. But he did not have permission to use it at the Dauphiné.
Central to the mystery surrounding what happened at the Dauphiné is the claim that Dr Richard Freeman, the former Team Sky medic, cannot find any records to prove he gave Wiggins a legal decongestant called Fluimucil because he failed to share those records with colleagues, which was against team policy. He says that he lost his laptop on holiday three years later.
Sky have admitted mistakes were made over the delivery of the package but are confident that no wrongdoing will be found when an inquiry by the parliamentary committee for culture, media and sport relating to the package is concluded.
Wiggins, who is an asthma sufferer, was granted a therapeutic use exemption to take triamcinolone before the 2011 Tour de France, his 2012 Tour win and the 2013 Giro d’Italia. He denies violating any anti-doping rules.
