UK Anti-Doping (Ukad) officials visited British Cycling headquarters at the National Cycling Centre in Manchester on Friday. The organisation is now said to be investigating “allegations of wrongdoing in cycling” rather than just the solitary “allegation” it had referred to on Thursday.
The Daily Mail has the visit down as a ‘drug raid’. While that conjures images of armed men turning over the premises in search of evidence, this wasn’t quite so dramatic.
A spokeswoman for UKAD said: "Whilst we do not normally comment on investigations ... at no point have UK Anti-Doping 'raided' British Cycling or Team Sky. Two members of UK Anti-Doping staff attended a meeting with British Cycling in Manchester today – this was done with the full cooperation of British Cycling."
Ukad is understood to be looking into an allegation that a medical package was delivered to Team Sky in France by a British Cycling coach in 2011.
It is claimed the alleged delivery was made on the day Sir Bradley Wiggins won the Criterium du Dauphine in La Toussuire. Both Wiggins and Sir Dave Brailsford have rejected suggestions that the product was administered to Wiggins on the team bus following the final stage.
Team Sky have conducted an internal review and say they are "confident there has been no wrongdoing".
The BBC quotes the team as saying: "We informed British Cycling of the allegation and asked them to contact Ukad, who we will continue to liaise with."
In addition to this, former Team Sky rider Jonathan Tiernan-Locke has alleged that British Cycling “freely offered” the controversial painkiller Tramadol to the country’s riders at the 2012 UCI Road World Championships.
British Cycling put the allegation to the medic in question, doctor Richard Freeman, and he has denied it.
The small frame, the aggressive posture, lots of standover height.
As i've said before, the police should be sued for a lot of money when someone they have knowingly ignored has gone on to commit a serious crime....
'Bad parking' blocks firefighters multiple times on same emergency call-out...
Cambridgeshire boy, 13, crashes Audi into garden wall after taking it from home...
Good stuff. Now do it on cycleway C9 through Hammersmith to Chiswick.
It's technically allowed but it's not known as "London's Orbital Car Park" for nothing.
You're defending bombing hospitals and refugee camps and starving children.
Used car salesman is a complete attention-seeking plank....
I don't know if they're any better, but they's certainly become more boring.
At risk of being cynical, and stereotyping the police, it's so they don't have to leave the comfort of their panda cars and pursue on foot when...