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Team Sky Denies Using Motorized Bikes At 2015 Tour De France

Team Sky denied using motorized bikes at the 2015 Tour de France "following the revelation" in an American TV program that a former French official claimed that 12 riders "were using hidden motors at the event," according to Sean Ingle of the London GUARDIAN. Former French Anti-Doping Agency Testing Dir Jean-Pierre Verdy claimed that "mechanical doping" had taken place, "but did not name which teams or riders he suspected." The allegations concerning Team Sky came as it was announced on Monday that the head of UK Anti-Doping and the doctor alleged to have received a mystery package intended for Sky's Bradley Wiggins at a race in '11 "will answer questions" from the Culture, Media & Sport Select Committee next month. Richard Freeman, who works for British Cycling and was formerly employed by Team Sky, gave the contents of the package to Wiggins at the end of the Critérium du Dauphiné, a Tour de France warm-up race, former British Cycling Technical Dir Shane Sutton has previously told MPs. The government department confirmed on Monday that Freeman "had been called to answer questions regarding the package" on Feb. 22. Team Sky and Wiggins "have denied any wrongdoing." Sunday's TV program, aired by CBS, also featured Istvan Varjas, a Hungarian mechanic, who claimed that on the day before the 2015 Tour de France started he delivered motorized bikes to a "locked storage room" in Beaulieu-sur-Mer on the French Riviera. He did not reveal who had requested the bikes. The mechanic said that a motorized bicycle "could be identified because the modified rear wheel would be 800g heavier than a regular one." CBS did not detail how it "obtained information" but claimed that Team Sky’s time-trial bicycles during the Tour were approximately 800g heavier than those used by other teams. A Team Sky spokesperson "denied mechanical doping." The spokesperson explained that "during a time-trial stage bikes might be heavier to allow for better aerodynamic performance" (GUARDIAN, 1/30). REUTERS' Martyn Herman reported Team Sky will "come under the spotlight again next month" when the head of UKAD "answers questions from MPs about allegations of wrongdoing in the sport." High on the agenda when UKAD CEO Nicole Sapstead goes before the Select Committee will be a package delivered to Wiggins at the '11 Critérium du Dauphiné. Team Sky's use of Therapeutic Use Exemptions (TUEs) has "also been under investigation after cyber-hacking website Fancy Bears leaked medical information" held by WADA on Wiggins and former Team Sky teammate Chris Froome. Neither rider "is suspected of any wrongdoing" (REUTERS, 1/30).

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