Sky TUE saga. Is it some sort of witch hunt?

You forgot the winky Martin…..

Sky are accountable and transparent remember…. 😉

Everything is fine at British Cycling
https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/about/article/20161230-British-Cycling-stars-honoured-in-the-New-Year%E2%80%99s-honours-list-0

and Dave Brailsford enjoys the limelight

Commentary: Team Sky has a history of credibility issues, with Dave Brailsford at centre stage

You really think Laura & Jason’s success is tainted by this?

And while I agree with some of the points in that Brailsford piece, it’s a good old-fashioned hatchet job – the writer clearly has some beef with him.

The Kennys succeed despite British Cycling

The Kennys succeed despite British Cycling

I know that makes a good soundbite, but do you really think it’s true?

A lot of the complaints about BC seem to be that it’s so ruthless in its focus on the absolute elite riders like them.

eg. Laura thinks Shane Sutton is the best thing since sliced bread, which is hardly the consensus now.

A lot of, if the face fits and that type of atmosphere goes on.
But ultimately, for who’s benefit does British Cycling exist for?
Yes the elite, and yes the members at all levels.
Some of the empire building that goes on in BC, does stifle and squander talent .

Remember when people still had a sense of perspective on the TUE thing…

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/cycling/2016/09/20/sir-bradley-wigginss-last-resort-drug-was-utterly-bonkers-say-me/%5B/url%5D

You know, like proper journalism where people consult independent authorities instead of just taking what David Millar ‘felt’ at face value.

Didn’t the Jiffy bag rear it’s head as if it was kenacort then taking it at the end of the finishing day of the dauphine would’ve been a violation?

Technically yeah, it would, but why would you do that? What would the benefit of it be when you could just wait till the next day? Even if it had happened, how would anyone have derived a genuine performance advantage from it?

Anyway, why not just wait until the leaky people at UKAD feed the next instalment of their findings to The Times or the Mail? Staffed by lots of ex-coppers, so you can rely on their probity.

The Kennys succeed despite British Cycling

Right…

eg. Laura thinks Shane Sutton is the best thing since sliced bread, which is hardly the consensus now.

and TBF Becky James can’t sing his praises highly enough. She went through a really tough time with injuries and she credits his support and encouragement when she was questioning her own ability with getting her back to medal-winning ways. BC sounds like a hugely successful, pressurised clique; if you’re in your in, if you’re out (Nicole Cooke, Jess Varnish) then prepare to be bullied.

And while I agree with some of the points in that Brailsford piece, it’s a good old-fashioned hatchet job – the writer clearly has some beef with him.

Shane Stokes makes the Daily Mail look measured. If I ever read anything by him I jump to quotes he’s used and skim over his own writing.

On the TUEs put people back on a level playing field argument…

Wiggins is apparently asthmatic and can’t breathe as well as others / could die on a Grand Tour without asthma drugs. They just put him on a level playing field.

I’m a bit overweight with no stamina so a TUE for Bute and EPO would help put me back on a level playing field.

Just saying.

Wiggins is a decent cyclist but TUEs ought to require a competitor to refrain from competition for a prescribed length of time after taking the drugs.

New era begins tomorrow

https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/about/article/20161229-HSBC-UK-Partnership-officially-begins-0

BC sounds like a hugely successful, pressurised clique; if you’re in your in, if you’re out (Nicole Cooke, Jess Varnish) then prepare to be bullied.

Totally agree, though I haven’t seen anything to suggest there’s a similar culture at Team Sky (and it seems some posters are conflating the two).

Back to the question in the OP – it’s more of a media feeding frenzy than a witch hunt IMO, with a load of sharks fighting over a half-eaten tin of sardines.

It is the blurring of the boundaries that needs to be cleared up.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/peter-keen-highlights-seriousness-of-british-cycling-and-team-sky-allegations/

In what capacity was Dave Brailsford asked to appear in front of the select commitee?
Former British Cycling employee or his role in Team Sky?

In what capacity was Dave Brailsford asked to appear in front of the select commitee?
Former British Cycling employee or his role in Team Sky?

Dave B has been on Sky News today, I am sure there will be a link somewhere later

As with most things, a lot of nothing, be it Strictly or Sky, stirred up buy disgusting people/journalists.

http://www.standard.co.uk/sport/geraint-thomas-on-the-team-sky-controversy-sir-dave-brailsford-didn-t-handle-matters-well-he-will-a3436811.html

Team Sky has faced tough questions before

Painful viewing

An exercise in over use of the hands as much as blatantly refusing to answer fairly simple questions. If you want to build public confidence this isn’t the way.

That was a more hostile interview than he’s probably used to, but he doesn’t take criticism well does he?

I thought he might start crying at a couple of points.

Chris Froomes book The Climb gives an insight into Dave Brailsford.

“The details were never teased out. Dave’s words would mean just what he chose them to mean.”

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/27563999

Are we supposed to be trashing Brailsford or Froome? It’s so hard to keep up. Which one is this week’s baddy? Or is that Wiggins?

I just think if they were really lying in a systematic way, they’d be much better at it, like, erm, Lance for example. I know everyone loves to drag him into this stuff, but he was a lot more convincing even though he was a sociopathic cheat. Maybe because he was a sociopathic cheat.

I wonder if UKAD will ever actually complete their investigation or if they’re too busy leaking stuff to the press to get on with it.

http://news.sky.com/story/team-sky-boss-sir-dave-brailsford-criticises-uk-anti-dopings-david-kenworthy-10724378

It will be a real kick in the teeth for road racing if Sky and BC are found to have broken the rules.

With regards to the package, it could be that BC and Sky are being vague is to protect a riders medical history. Perhaps they needed antibiotics for an infection in a sensitive area. If that was the case then they may not have wanted that info in the public domain and the fall-out for family as the papers have a field day. It could be that it was full of dodgy banned substances in which case why not learn a lesson from the LA example and be sure that we will all find out soon enough.

I think cycling as a sport gets a bad deal in the sports doping story. Athletics must have a massive problem, there are loads of ex-dopers at the olympics and world champs and there is not a big fuss about them. Look at the size of rugby players in both codes. The average pro player is now massive compared to only 10-15 years ago. That can’t only be advancements in sports science.

Cycling is the easy target for the media as a minority sport that most people now think is all about the best drug user.

I’m a bit overweight with no stamina so a TUE for Bute and EPO would help put me back on a level playing field.

Interestingly that was a scolarly view held by some researchers in the 80s that EPO would help level the heomicrit playing field and help athletes recover and maintain health therefore making for safer, fairer racing.

It’s got a lot more fundamentalist since then

gastro I agree that there is far more money in other sports, so the vested interests of all concerned to cover up are far greater; if the UCI were supposed to be complicit with Armstrong, you can multiply the financial gain by 1000 for more mainstream sports and their governing bodies.

Funny how much news the Fancy Bears leak of Wiggins TUE had compared to the same leak about, say, Mo Farah’s TUE use. There’s as much smoke around him as Wiggins; he’s trained with Salazar AND Aden (a bit like a cyclist working with both Fuentes and Ferrari), tweeted a picture of him training in a different country to the one he was actually in (which suggested he wasn’t with Aden), and been less than truthful (or forgetful) in previous statements about what meds he’d had. Doesn’t seem to interest the press so much.

I disagree with the patient confidentiality argument purely because that would have been the explanation offered, “sorry we can’t tell you publicly due to confidentiality”. They haven’t been vague, they’ve been specific, and found to be untrue (Emma Pooley).

With regards to the package, it could be that BC and Sky are being vague is to protect a riders medical history. Perhaps they needed antibiotics for an infection in a sensitive area. If that was the case then they may not have wanted that info in the public domain and the fall-out for family as the papers have a field day.

But you could trust an ethical body like UKAD not to leak confidential information right? It’s not like a photograph of Simon Cope’s expenses form miraculously found its way to the Times is it, oh…

I just think if they were really lying in a systematic way, they’d be much better at it

I think it’s pretty clear that Sky aren’t anything like as used to this sort of press attention as they’re getting, you can sense that DB is trying to be as evasive as he possibly can be in that BBC interview for instance. I think they’ve not had to lie in systematic way, as no-one has questioned them before, or has certainly taken their answers at face value. And now they are, Team Sky and DB in particular are obviously not being as clear as they could be

Somebody said earlier that

David Walsh is an imbecile!

….perhaps a bit cruel.
Have a listen to him talking about Lance Armstrong.
Starts at about 27:40
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b087pq8n

I don’t think David Walsh is an imbecile, but he seems to have gone a little bonkers in a quite public way. He seems to operate in a small sports journalistic bubble where they’re desperate to be the next David Walsh by proving that Team Sky is the new Lance Armstrong while he is discredited and hated as an apologist for Sky, who are supposed to be the new US Postal.

But what’s maybe more telling is that he spend half of his Sunday Times column last week basically just saying that he once saw Ian Wright meeting an old teacher and he’s a nice guy, but he thinks the Match of the Day pundit team is a bit rubbish. Ground-breaking stuff.

Perhaps David Walsh wants to be the next David Walsh?

An interesting read: http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/all-aboard-the-magic-bus-3974

Imbedded journo at the dauphine ’11.

On the final Friday, talk about Uran needing a TUE ( and phoning ole dr Mario Zorzoli no less) due to difficulty breathing. Nothing about Brad though (despite him needing the package delivered to him the next day!)

And interesting comments from Brailsford re. needing anti doping personnel on the bus to stop doping after the race!!!

There’s nothing going on here…..

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2017/jan/13/dave-brailsford-team-sky-cycling-control

They are possibly supposed to emphasise competence and to distract from substance. On this occasion, however, they seemed to have gone out of control, as if some unseen hand had surreptitiously turned the relevant dial way past the optimum setting.

😆

Prediction: DB gone before the Tour.

On the final Friday, talk about Uran needing a TUE ( and phoning ole dr Mario Zorzoli no less) due to difficulty breathing. Nothing about Brad though (despite him needing the package delivered to him the next day!)

Why do you think none of the British media seem remotely bothered about Uran despite the reference having been there in public view since 2011?

I thought the man city case was interesting. In football it’s Team responsibility for whereabouts info? Lol

I bet there are more than a few track and field and cyclists grinding their teeth at that. How does that work with wada’s codes about individual responsibility?

Why do you think none of the British media seem remotely bothered about Uran despite the reference having been there in public view since 2011?

1) I don’t think Uran is the first British winner of the Tour de France
2) they didn’t try to hide the TUE for Uran. Or the even the (retrospective) one for Froome
3) funnily no mention of Wiggins being ill and needing medicines specially flown over for the UK but mention that doping immediately after a race needs to be policed (somewhat out of the blue by DB, but hey there’s nothing going on here, no way, I don’t even know why I brought that up…. 😉 ).

So the Uran TUE is okay for the same issues as Wiggins and – what sounds like quite likely – the same drugs? It doesn’t seem very consistent, but you’re a bit more clued up than me. Is Wiggins subject to special rules?

Who said Uran’s TUE was ok? Your question was why wasn’t the British media bothered about it.

Why were Sky not transparent about Wiggins but were with Uran for apparently the exact same thing?

Also, you might want to be a bit more clued up about Zorzoli too. Also Dr Leinders while your at it… 😀

HTH.