Team Sky is seeking a new clinical director, "with sports doctors with no previous links to cycling being strongly considered," according to Matt Lawton of the London DAILY MAIL. Earlier this year, the professional road team "faced severe criticism" from UK Anti-Doping and MPs for its "medical practices and what a parliamentary report considered an abuse of the medical exemption system." Sky denied giving banned substances to riders for non-medical reasons but the Digital, Culture, Media & Sport Committee concluded that the team "crossed an ethical line." Sky has since conducted an independent, external medical review and reportedly enlisted the services of a head hunter to find a new medical chief. Richard Usher, who is already on the staff, is being made interim medical director, "giving Sky time to appoint the right candidate." While cycling doctors have been considered, it is believed a doctor with no cycling experience "would be preferable even if they would deny such a decision will be influenced by the controversies surrounding previous doctors like Geert Leinders and Richard Freeman" (DAILY MAIL, 11/12).
