So is Sir Bradley guilty of doping?

Khamelion said:
In a life saving situation, then obviously the drug needs to be administered
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I have to use mine everyday as a life saving drug, because my medical notes state that I have "life threatening asthma". Where would I stand on this? Afterall, my damaged lungs, from childhood emphysema, struggle to let me breathe "normally" even after using all my various drugs.
 
There are certainly plenty of questions to be answered.

Why was the drug used only on the three occasions before TdF? Are there, as suggested by some doctors, performance enhancing benefits to this drug? Why, in his book, did he not refer to this treatment and, in fact, suggest that prior to his win he was in perfect condition?

There may well be good answers to all the questions but I am afraid that until those answers are supplied the suspicion will remain.
 
MetalMickie said:
There are certainly plenty of questions to be answered.

Why was the drug used only on the three occasions before TdF? Are there, as suggested by some doctors, performance enhancing benefits to this drug? Why, in his book, did he not refer to this treatment and, in fact, suggest that prior to his win he was in perfect condition?

There may well be good answers to all the questions but I am afraid that until those answers are supplied the suspicion will remain.
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As you say, without knowing the context and medical history (i.e. he may have tried other medicines and found this to be most effective) it's hard to say and will draw suspicion.

Re the medicine he took, you don't need a TUE out of competition so he may have been taking it regularly but you only see the TUE for use in competition so it may not have been used "only on the three occasions before TdF"........

I could be wrong but I think the principle(s) of the TUE's is that they can't offer any "performance enhancement" so you can't get EPO on TUE for example.

I'm a sceptic about this sort of stuff but there are a lot of people out with pitchforks demanding "answers" but asking the wrong questions......

I've not searched out much of the coverage but have the UCI or anti-doping agencies made any comment?

What it does show is that the hacking organisation have succeeded 100% in diverting attention from the Russian issue!! ;)
 
NWJocko said:
What it does show is that the hacking organisation have succeeded 100% in diverting attention from the Russian issue!! ;)
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Not as far as I am concerned.

This story is in addition to the State sponsored cheating in Russia, not instead of. That one still has plenty of mileage in it and try as hard as they (the Russians) may try it is not going away.
 
I'm unconvinced either way!

His interview on BBC raised more questions than it answered!

I know he is an asthma sufferer - though there was certainly a time in UK where a slight chesty wheeze seemed to be diagnosed as asthma!

His statement that the use of this drug (simply) brought him back to 'a level playing field' could certainly be considered as using it for (illegal) 'performance enhancing'!

The TUE system is absolutely essential though!
 
Back when i raced it was widely assumed that an asthma inhaler would improve your performance. Weather its true or not i couldn't tell, you but remember a few having them. I remember the thinking was they enlarged your alveoli hence increased your lung capacity in a healthy person, that is.

As from Bradley, I hope he is clean.
 
Wonder how Alain Baxter feels who lost his Olympic bronze ski slalom medal because he inhaled a Vicks inhaler for a cold in USA whilst competing, compared to what Wiggins, Farah and others have done 'legally' to win olympic medals it seems a very tough call....... even 14 years later.
Too many individual sports have lost so much credibility, every event is rife with cheats it seems and there's no way they'll catch enough, then when they are caught they're serving too short bans then coming back to win again. When someone wins in an exceptional time/distance etc nowadays it's not 'well done', it's 'I wonder if they're clean' or for females even if they're actually 100% female etc. The Semenya thing in the Olympics was ridiculous for example. Powers that be can't get on top of this and you wonder looking back just how many old world records amd Olympic golds were 'chemically assisted'. Has finished athletics as a credible sport and cycling not far behind. Not good.
 
I’m not sure I understand the TUE thing

If you have an underlying medical/physical condition (either temporarily or ongoing) that prevents you being the best in the world at something (either temporarily or ongoing) then boohoo, you need to accept the fact that if you compete you’ll probably get beaten by someone stronger/fitter/faster who doesn’t have any medical/physical issues that'll hamper them

You should not be permitted to take substances for a range of ailments just to give you any ‘fair’ chance. Being competitive is not a 'right' and as such if you suffer from asthma then your expectation should be that you’re unlikely to ever win the TDF just the same as if you have an overactive fat gland!

Maybe TUE drug assisted is a whole new category alongside Sport and Disability Sport for people with conditions that require drug management
 
In light of this latest report from our own DCMS http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/43280081 is his legacy tainted now? The report seems like a 'Not Proven' verdict you get in Scottish courts - i.e. we think you did it but we cant prove it type thing. Between him and Froome and cycling generally, not good - mud sticks and all that.
 
What they did was not illegal and not against the rules. Like it or not they stretched the rules and used them to their advantage, ethically wrong, possibly morally wrong but not didn't break the rules.
 
If WADA and the other drug enforcement agencies found nothing to punish them for, I see no benefit in this carrying on. I don’t doubt Team Sky have sailed very close to the wind in all aspects of maximising their riders performance, but if they haven’t broken the rules what is there to complain about?
Sounds to me like those in power would prefer the “plucky Brit “ tag over “winner”
 
The problem is Team Skyy have always painted themselves whiter than white and this concludes their more a shady grey than white.
 
He has not broken any rules - he and his medical team have clearly pushed the rules to the limits.

But in golf are we not encouraged to know the rules inside out so that we can push them to the limits and to our greatest advantage - whilst maintaining honesty about what we are doing when we do so.
 
I posted similar in another thread, but at the elite level, I would bet everything I have that none of the top athletes are clean. For some reason this is not palatable to the general public, or the sponsors, so we have an image of clean sport and a few cheaters. In reality, the anti-doping rules act more as a limit to how much you can dope, rathe r than stop it. Of course, some athletes or teams are more sophisticated, better connected than others, but everyone at the top is at it to some level.

Some sports and individuals are targetted more than others, cycling has always been in the crosshairs, whereas the freaks playing rugby, for example, are somehow given a free pass for the most part.
 
SwingsitlikeHogan said:
He has not broken any rules - he and his medical team have clearly pushed the rules to the limits.

But in golf are we not encouraged to know the rules inside out so that we can push them to the limits and to our greatest advantage - whilst maintaining honesty about what we are doing when we do so.
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I agree. In every competition environment particpants push the boundaries - its getting the 'edge'. Take a squint at motor sport, power boat racist, horses and greyhound racing, I'll wager every team is seeking to be flying as close to the rules as possible.

accusing BW is just a failure to recognise reality. He has not broken not the rules of his sport. Sore grapes, methinks
 
drdel said:
I agree. In every competition environment particpants push the boundaries - its getting the 'edge'. Take a squint at motor sport, power boat racist, horses and greyhound racing, I'll wager every team is seeking to be flying as close to the rules as possible.

accusing BW is just a failure to recognise reality. He has not broken not the rules of his sport. Sore grapes, methinks
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If this was coming from Russia or another race team I'd see sour grapes, but this is from our own select committe of MPs who have no reason to want to discredit a UK sporting hero, everyone loses. I'm glad we look into such matters as a country though and dont cover them up. Does come at a cost of course.
 
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