Sir Bradley Wiggins has insisted he ‘100 per cent did not cheat’ and believes he is the victim of a smear campaign.
A report by MPs found that Wiggins and his team ‘crossed an ethical line’ by using performance enhancing drugs.
However the Tour De France winner has since claimed that at no point in his career has he crossed that line.
The type of drugs used by Wiggins are allowed under anti-doping rules to enhance performance instead of just for medical purposes.
Sir Bradley Wiggins has insisted he ‘100 per cent did not cheat’ and believes he is the victim of a smear campaign.
He said: ‘I refute that 100 per cent. This is malicious, this is someone trying to smear me’, during an interview with the BBC.
Adding: ‘I’d have had more rights if I’d murdered someone’
‘I have worked and had the passion I have had for 15 to 20 years and to do that to the sport…it is the worst thing to be accused of.
‘It is also the hardest thing to prove you haven’t done,’ he said. ‘We’re not dealing in a legal system. I’d have had more rights if I had murdered someone.’
A report by MPs found that Wiggins and his team ‘crossed an ethical line’ by using performance enhancing drugs which he strongly denied during an interview
Wiggins added that he is the victim of a ‘witch hunt’ which is impacting his children’s time at school.
He said the report was ‘based on rumour’, adding: ‘Who are these sources? Come out. Go on record. This is serious stuff.’
He was granted the therapeutic use exemption to take the drug which treats allergies and respiratory issues shorty before the 2011 Tour De France, his 2012 Tour win and the 2013 Giro d’Italia.
Team Sky said it ‘strongly refutes’ the report’s ‘serious claim that medication has been used by the team to enhance performance’.
What are Sir Bradley Wiggins and Team Sky accused of?
MPS have accused the cyclist and his team of using a powerful steroid called triamcinolone to help him in several races, including his historic Tour de France win.
They said Wiggins had used the drug – which was allowed under an exemption to treat asthma – to instead improve his performance.
The committee concluded that a suspect medical package carried across Europe in a jiffy bag was also triamcinolone – despite Team Sky claiming it was nothing more than a decongestant.
What is triamcinolone?
It is an anti-inflammatory drug used to treat asthma, pollen allergies, eczema and arthritis, which can be administered orally, by injection, by inhalation, or as a cream.
What is the fuss about Wiggins taking the drug?
It has a history of abuse in cycling because it allows cyclists to lose weight, delay fatigue, and help their recovery. Though its use does not violate the World Anti-Doping Agency code, critics have questioned whether its use by Team Sky, which boasts a zero-drug policy, is ethical.
When did questions emerge about Wiggins and Team Sky?
In 2016, Russian hackers revealed Wiggins had received intramuscular injections of triamcinolone before three grand tours, including the Tour de France in 2012. This was followed by a Daily Mail report revealing Wiggins received a suspect medical package in a jiffy bag at a race in France in June 2011.
Was Wiggins investigated by UK Anti-Doping (UKAD)?
Yes. An investigation into whether the jiffy bag did indeed contain triamcinolone began in September 2016. A year later the watchdog ruled there was not sufficient evidence and no charges were made.
During the interview Wiggins was also asked about the mystery ‘Jiffy bag’ which was seen being delivered at the Criterium du Dauphine in June 2011.
He said the accusations were a ‘shambles’ and he has no idea what was in the package, which turned out to be fluimucil.
Wiggins added that he had been taking fluimucil that week.
Fluimucil is a mucolytic, a drug that can help break up thick mucus in the lungs, making it thinner and easier to expel by coughing, making it easier to breathe.
Wiggins is facing calls to be stripped of his knighthood as Halfords ‘reviews’ its sponsorship deal in the wake of his drugs-cheat allegations.
Olympic gold medallist Wiggins was branded a ‘flaming cheat’ by Piers Morgan on Good Morning Britain, after MPs concluded the British cyclist used drugs to enhance his performance.
While John Mann, Labour MP for Bassetlaw, said the Tour de France winner needed to ‘justify why he should keep his knighthood and his sponsorship deals by now proving his innocence.’
The Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) select committee report found Wiggins had used triamcinolone before the 2012 Tour to treat his asthma.
Piers Morgan was furious this morning and accused Sir Bradley of cheating during the 2012 Tour de France
MPs concluded that Sir Bradley Wiggins (left, riding in the Tour de France in 2012 and right, holding his knighthood award in 2013) used drugs to boost his performance
However, while the drug was taken within anti-doping regulations, it was also allegedly used improve the cyclist’s power-to-weight ratio before the gruelling event and ministers accused Team Sky of crossing an ‘ethical line’.
Halfords, which launched a range of bikes with Sir Bradley in July 2016, said today it was reviewing its contract with the cyclist.
A spokeswoman said: ‘Bradley Wiggins’ range was launched in 2016. We are currently in discussions with his management team regarding this latest report.
‘We continuously review all of our product ranges based on a variety of different factors and the WIGGINS range is no different.’
Ministers on the digital, culture, media and sport committee rejected claims he used the drug to simply treat asthma
Speaking to Anna Foster on BBC 5 Live today, she said: ‘They are very shocking allegations this morning in the press, and I must admit, when I saw them, my heart did sink.
‘I’d like to kind of believe it’s not true, and until there’s any concrete evidence or proof I’m still going to try and be really optimistic about the fact that these athletes and the people that I know and the team have not crossed any boundaries. But this committee have decided that they have.’
Hours earlier Piers, 52, slammed the five-time Olympic gold medalist – who won the Tour in 2012 – and accused him of deliberately cheating after the two-and-a-half year explosive report was published.
He said: ‘It was to help him win. This leads me to the shorter version of this which is that Sir Bradley Wiggins is a flaming cheat – cheat.
‘And if he doesn’t like that phrase, why don’t you come and sue me? Seriously. Let’s get into court and discuss what was in your little jiffy bag.
‘Because it is disgusting what has been going on.’
Piers also said Sir Bradley used the drugs to improve his performance and that he has now been exposed as ‘unethical’.
He also demanded the cyclist is stripped of his knighthood, which he was awarded in 2013.
But the cyclist has hit back and ‘strongly refuted’ the claims that it was used ‘without medical need’.
Meanwhile, Team Sky said they ‘strongly refute’ the claim the medication was used to enhance performance.
But Piers went on: ‘Sir Bradley Wiggins is a flaming cheat and now we all know. Strip him of his knighthood, take it away.
‘We don’t give knighthoods to cheats. Sir Bradley, let’s have it back please.’
Piers (pictured today) was speaking on Good Morning Britain and invited the star on to the show
Victoria Pendleton (pictured with her gold medal in 2012) said her heart sank when she read the ‘shocking allegations’ this morning
The track cyclist (pictured in 2012) said there will be ‘some kind of knock on effect’ following the report
He added: ‘We now have a report which was very thorough. What it concludes is that he was not taking these very powerful steroids – which you’re only supposed to take once a year – for health reasons, he was taking them to enhance performance. It may be within the rules, but it’s just cheating.
‘I invite Sir Bradley Wiggins, knight of the realm, to come on this programme and face proper questions on what was in your jiffy bag.
‘If you watch sport, it’s the greatest thing in the world until you know that people are cheating, and at that point, the magic dies – it doesn’t matter what sport it is.’
Ministers on the digital, culture, media and sport committee concluded: ‘The purpose of this was not to treat medical need, but to improve his power-to-weight ratio ahead of the race.’
Sir Bradley was found to be using triamcinolone, which is a powerful steroid that allows cyclists to lose weight while maintaining power.
The substance is banned however athletes are able to use it if they have a health issue.
However, ministers added: ‘It would be hard to know what possible medical need could have required such a seemingly excessive use of this drug.’
And Ms Pendleton also outlined the changes that she would like to see in cycling.
She said: ‘Having people around you that couldn’t allow grey areas to even exist would be the best course of action in many ways.
Piers Morgan (left) slammed the Team Sky cyclist (right) and said he should be stripped of his knighthood
Sir Bradley Wiggins celebrated breaking the UCI Hour Record at the Olympic Velodrome in Lee Valley Velopark, London, in 2015
Sir Bradley (pictured) won the Tour de France in 2012 and a report found he had ‘crossed’ an ethical line
‘It’s difficult when it’s crossing boundaries and who decides on where the boundaries are.
‘It needs to be clarified I think for everybody in order to know what is OK and what is unacceptable and that needs to be done I think probably sooner rather than later.’
She also said all track cyclists faced some suspicion and that athletes ‘can’t avoid that brush slightly tarnishing you’.
Ms Pendleton added: ‘I think cycling has always had a very bad reputation when it comes to people crossing the boundaries.
‘And historically I think cycling has been seen as a sport that does have a lot of grey areas, and people have broken the rules when it comes to doping. We’re talking globally.
‘It has a really bad reputation as a sport in general. I think a lot of people would associate cycling, road cycling in particular, with doping.
‘It is hard, because you’re in training every day trying your very hardest to be the best you can be, and you’re sticking by the rules, and people go, oh yeah, but cyclists, you know, you’re all taking something aren’t you? And that is heart breaking, it’s absolutely heart breaking.
‘But you can’t avoid that brush kind of slightly tarnishing you. Or you’re being painted with the same brush. You can’t help that.
‘You know when you’re in a sport like cycling, when something comes up to do with doping, that the question will come to you, because people think you have an experience or understanding of it, more so than another sporting athlete. So it is a very challenging situation to be in.’
‘We can’t help but there is going to be some kind of knock-on effect through these kind of allegations.’
Speaking about Sir Bradley, she added: ‘I know Bradley Wiggins through being in training with him, and he’s an incredibly talented athlete, and I’ve always been in awe of his physical ability.
‘The way he pushes himself in training. I’m a Bradley Wiggins fan. What can I say?’
The explosive findings in the report also suggested other British cyclists could have been involved after they added Team Sky used drugs to ‘enhance the performance of riders and not just to treat medical need’.
Meanwhile, Sir Bradley’s former coach Shane Sutton told MPs his use of triamcinolone was ‘unethical’.
Sir Bradley said: ‘I find it so sad that accusations can be made, where people can be accused of things they have never done which are then regarded as facts.
‘I strongly refute the claim that any drug was used without medical need. I hope to have my say in the next few days and put to my side across.’
Team Sky added: ‘The report details again areas in the past where we have already acknowledged that the team fell short.
‘We take full responsibility for mistakes that were made. However, the report also makes the serious claim that medication has been used by the team to enhance performance. We strongly refute this.’
According to neighbours, Sir Bradley moved out of his £1million home in the village of Eccleston, Lancashire, three weeks ago.
He had lived at the 18th century farmhouse with wife Catherine and their two children Ben and Isabella.
But locals spotted moving vans at the countryside property last month and one said they were ‘glad to see him go’.
One neighbour said: ‘There were moving vans outside around three weeks ago. He left and I haven’t seen him since. I’m glad to see him go.
‘I haven’t got a clue where he’s gone as we didn’t really talk. I wasn’t his biggest fan, I didn’t really like having him around here. A few other neighbours felt the same.’