In 2012 I was living in London and attended the Tour de France as well as the London Olympics so I might be a bit biased here.
Brad Wiggins was a big deal in the UK, much more than Froome is now, more personality, very British and a likeable down to earth character.
He basically put team Sky on the map.
In 2012 he won the Tour de France and Olympic gold, both the tour that year and the Olympic Time Trial were up there with some of the best sport I’ve ever seen.
Anyway, I was shocked when it was announced he was being investigated for doping. Even after Lance Armstrong, I still couldn’t believe Wiggins was a cheat.
Years have gone on and investigation after investigation has basically ruined Wiggins’ life.
But there are some grey area’s that don’t help him, such as a ‘lack of medical records’
Many journalists have slammed team Sky for their handling and secrecy during this case.
But, as was the case with Lance, and with team Sky’s recent domination, questions have to be raised.
Is Wiggins a cheat?
Was team Sky running a doping program then / now?
Do you trust cycling is clean post Lance?
Is UKAD targeting anyone who is successful to justify their position? (WADA / Essendon similar case)
Is a lack of medical records suspicious or just unfortunate?
I’m not sure what to think anymore…but would love to hear others views that may not be so swept up in ‘Wiggins mania’.
(I added his letter as a picture here but it needs zooming to read, Shaun get onto that by lunchtime today thanks 🙂
So here are the links from today’s announcement:
Ride on, Sir Wiggo.
http://www.bbc.com/sport/cycling/41999310
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/cycling/2017/11/15/sir-bradley-wiggins-hits-ukad-putting-living/
I threw in a photo of a much skinnier me for a laugh too.
I always liked Wiggo. I enjoyed watching him ride and win the TDF, and the Worlds very much.
Not gonna dwell on the past and taint my good memories of watching him.
I always thought he was clean, but I guess these things are never black and white, just differing shades or grey.
I’ve no idea about Wiggins, but 4 or 5 years after the fact, I discovered one of my previous cycling mates, in the mid 90’s, had started using EPO. And this was just to win best cyclist bragging rights within the group, as one of the others was very good..!
That’s sad
Former Sky chief admits manipulating drug rules
The comments by the former British Cycling and Team Sky head coach, which have been described as “very disappointing” by the president of the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada), will increase suspicions around the TUEs obtained by Sir Bradley Wiggins, Britain’s first Tour de France winner, before three of his biggest races.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/former-sky-chief-admits-manipulating-drug-rules-wf05h33hq?shareToken=379293d3ea4992f5f944c1a0880b20ab
Everything they did was within the rules. I think I read there will be no charges brought against Sky/Wiggins cos there is no evidence against them of breaching any rules.
WADA set the rules. Maybe rather than be ‘disappointed’ they should re-write the rules so they are a little happier with the outcomes.
Athletes and teams doing absolutely everything possible to win, PROVIDED ITS WITHIN THE RULES, is what people want and its what competitive sport is.
Lance never failed a drug test. Team Sky never broke the rules. Froome had twice the permissable dose of an asthma treatment in his sample at Tour of Spain. Not much has changed which is not surprising given they are all human and driven to win at all costs ….. locally that translated into “whatever it takes” lastly, if it seems to good to be true then it probably is.
Justin