Dame Wiggy and his wonky TUEs
dave smith
This is brief and there are many more questions I believe Team Sky should provide answers for, but for now, let’s ask them to chew on these.
The 2011 TUE
What is known
Applied for 30th June
Granted by Doctor Zorzoli 30th June
Examination to justify application 2nd July
‘Life long condition’
What should be made known
1. Why was the exemption granted before the relevant medical examination?
2. What changes in performance data did the Team Sky coaching staff observe compared to previous Tours without the Triamcinolone? Were there positive performance gains?
3. If the condition was truly a lifelong one, why had this treatment never been used before?
4. Were Wiggins and the Team Sky medical and coaching staff aware that triamcinolone was a potent PED with a history of abuse in pro cycling?
The 2012 TUE
What is known
Medical examination done 15th May, confirming nothing more than a lifelong condition
Application not made until 26th June
The TUE states ‘Event – Dauphine’ – this finished on the 10th June, 16 days before the date of the TUE
Wiggins own accounts of the run-up to the Tour were that he was in great health, great condition and ready to go. According to Wiggins, his medical team also knew this, stating“you're on track here, you're the favourite to win this race, now we need to make sure the next three weeks... is there anything we can help with at the moment?”
What should be made known
1. If the examination on 15th May genuinely diagnosed a serious allergy/asthma incident, would that not have warranted treatment being given for the upcoming Dauphine?
2. How was Wiggins able to win the Dauphine in commanding style, if he was suffering any form of allergy/asthma diagnosed on the 15th May?
3. If he wasn’t suffering any form of allergy/asthma during the Dauphine, when did the condition start pre-tour and why was there no examination to confirm this?
4. Why did the medical team say he was on track and the favourite, if they knew (because of the examination on 15th May) that he was suffering from allergies/asthma?
5. Did performance data and Wiggin’s subjective feedback from 2011 treatment provide motivation for seeking TUE for triamcinolone?
6. If triamcinolone wasn’t helpful to performance in 2011, why was it sought in 2012?
7. Why, and precisely why, was this particular treatment sought, given that it is so rarely used in normal medical practice, and then only for very severe episodes?
Notes:
Having a life long allergy does not mean continual symptoms unless continually exposed to the allergen in question. This needs to be probed further re’ Wiggins and his actual health pre-Tour.
In the interests of transparency;
I have coached two riders who have served doping bans. Pascal Lino received a 2-month ban for amphetamine use prior to my coaching him. Before taking him on as a client, I explained that the training I would give him would negate any need to take anything and that I was 100% anti-doping. I worked with him for two years.
I coached David Millar in his last 18 months as an amateur and 1st year as a professional. His doping ban occurred after I was no longer his coach. To the best of my knowledge he was clean in the period I worked with him.
Personally I was prescribed prednisone in Jan 2015 for pneumonia that had not responded to 3 courses of antibiotics. I commenced racing 4 weeks after the course had finished (I could not have won the Tour of Romandie).
That’s enough for now.
© Dave Smith 2016
