The doctor at the center of cycling's "Jiffy-bag" affair spoke publicly about it for the first time, saying that he was the victim of a "set-up" aimed at "ruining" his and cyclist Bradley Wiggins' reputations, according to Syed & Hare of the LONDON TIMES. Dr. Richard Freeman, who worked for Team Sky and British Cycling from '08-17, said that a claim that the medical package hand-delivered to Wiggins at the Critérium du Dauphiné in France in '11 contained banned corticosteroid triamcinolone was "outrageous." Freeman believes the original source of that claim is former Team Sky and British Cycling coach Shane Sutton, who had been a mentor to Wiggins. Freeman claimed that Sutton "sought to tarnish the rider's achievements after a series of arguments between the pair." One argument was over the issue of "whether Wiggins had promised to buy Sutton a car as thanks for helping him to win the 2012 Tour de France." Sutton also "clashed" with Wiggins' wife, Cath. Freeman, who oversaw three triamcinolone injections given to Wiggins legally as an asthma treatment, having been granted a therapeutic use exemption, said that his reputation had been "destroyed by the allegation that the Jiffy bag contained triamcinolone, rather than Fluimucil, the legal decongestant that Freeman insists was actually in it." Freeman said, "My reputation is destroyed. It's like your virginity, you are never going to get it back" (LONDON TIMES, 7/2).
'SUICIDAL THOUGHTS': In London, Tom Cary reported speaking ahead of the publication this week of his book "The Line," Freeman said that he had "suicidal thoughts" as a result of the stress of the 18-month investigation into the controversy. Freeman admitted that if he was given the opportunity again, he would "prefer not to" give Wiggins triamcinolone and would advise him of the "reputational risk." Wiggins successfully applied for TUEs of the "controversial" drug on three occasions in his career to use in competition, and also took it out of competition, "which was legal without a TUE" (TELEGRAPH, 7/1).
