British Cycling have failed to provide any documentation to support Bradley Wiggins in relation to a package which was flown over to France during the 2011 Tour de France.
According to The Times, British Cycling's president Bob Howden wrote to the select committee of MPs investigating the incident, saying that the governing body "understands" the package only contained Fluimucil - an over the counter decongestant.
The reason for the investigation into Wiggins and the suspect package came after Daily Mail journalist Matt Lawton queried why Simon Cope, a coach at British Cycling, flew over 600 miles from England to France to deliver the bag to Wiggins.
Exclusive: British Cycling fails to back up its drug defence of Sir Bradley Wiggins https://t.co/R07qrRRsXT pic.twitter.com/PtZ9jSTVkh
— The Times of London (@thetimes) December 29, 2016
Speaking to Off the Ball earlier this month, Lawton said: "My first questions went into Team Sky via email, British Cycling and Bradley Wiggins' representative on the 22nd September (2016).
"And over the course of the weekend, I was contacted by an intermediary who said that [Dave] Brailsford [Team Sky Principal] would be keen to sit down and meet me. And by the Saturday night, I was told to send Brailsford a text, which I did. We had an exchange and we agreed to meet on the Tuesday.
"So he actually had five days to prepare for our meeting. I was also told that weekend that Simon Cope had told the same intermediary that he was in La Toussaire that day in 2011 to see Emma Pooley, which is something I was able to check very quickly, [and it] wasn't the case," he added.
Dave Brailsford appeared before the select committee investigating the package and revealed it was Fluimicil. However, Wiggins is an asthmatic and, as Lawton pointed out, "it does say on the drug: not recommended for asthmatics."
The Times also notes that Damian Collins MP, the chairman of the select committee said: "The more we discover about the package, the more questions seem to be thrown up.
"We now know, from Simon Cope’s expense claims, that the request to take the package must have been made some time in advance, and that he travelled from southern England up to Manchester to collect it, and then went back to fly to France from London Gatwick.
"If this medicine was needed urgently, it would have been much quicker to buy it in France. We also know from last week’s hearing that the medication was administered as soon as it was delivered. It also seems that British Cycling do not know categorically what was in the package. They say they understand it to be Fluimucil, but do not explain why they understand that’s what it was," he added.
Wiggins retired from the sport yesterday, stating in an Instagram post that he had been "lucky enough to live a dream and fulfil my childhood aspiration of making a living and a career out of the sport I fell in love with at the age of 12."
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