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World of Sport

25th Sep 2016

There’s a lot of people very angry with how Bradley Wiggins’ interview with Andrew Marr unfolded

SportsJOE

This was probably inevitable.

Bradley Wiggins has been at the the centre of one hell of a storm over the past 10 days after leaked documents showed that he had applied for therapeutic use exemptions (TUEs) shortly before his biggest races of the season in 2011, 2012 and 2013.

While there is no suggestion that Wiggins has broken any rules at any stage, there are certain elements of these leaks that have caused many to wonder if Team Sky’s commitment to full transparency is as strong as they claim.

Specifically, the timing of Wiggins’ TUE applications, the use of the drug triamcinolone which many cyclists claim has powerful performance enhancing qualities, the presence of the now banned doctor Geert Leinders with Team Sky at certain periods in this timeframe as well as Wiggins’ own pronouncement in his autobiography that he and British cycling operated a ‘no needle’ policy, have led to calls for Wiggins and Team Sky to explain themselves.

While Team Sky’s head honcho Sir Dave Brailsford has so far remained tight-lipped following these leaks, Wiggins released a statement last week in a bid to clarify his position.

On Sunday he appeared on BBC to be interviewed by Andrew Marr.

Wiggins claimed that the use of these drugs were not to gain an advantage but were merely used to level the playing field and help him overcome the difficulties caused by the chronic asthma he has suffered from since childhood.

While Marr isn’t quite Oprah Winfrey levels of saccharine PR interview, but many viewers at home were  in no doubt that Marr had given Wiggins an easy ride.

https://twitter.com/ctulb/status/779975706835030016

Even other journalists were having a pop…