Reuters
London, Sept 19: Chris Froome’s credibility as triple Tour de France champion has only been boosted by the hacking of his private medical information, according to a South African physiologist who carried out tests on the Briton last year. Meanwhile in a fresh development Monday, the medical reports of Olympic champion Mo Farah, tennis player Rafael Nadal and golfer Justin Rose were leaked by the hackers.
Jeroen Swart, in an interview with the ‘Cycling Tips website’, suggested, however, that other data published by alleged Russian cyber hackers ‘Fancy Bear’ had weakened Team Sky’s image as ‘squeaky clean, cleaner than the rest’. The hackers last week revealed Therapeutic Use Exemptions (TUEs) for Froome and 2012 Tour winner Bradley Wiggins.
Froome’s information was already known. “It seems Chris has been completely transparent and open about his TUEs and the documents back that,” said Swart, who worked with Froome after the rider decided to answer critics and undergo physiological tests. “There was nothing hidden or untoward from Chris’s side. He actually comes out looking all the better after this. It is really Wiggins and the team who are having a negative light cast on them. From Chris’s side, it is actually quite positive.”
Wiggins, the first British rider to win the Tour and his country’s most decorated Olympian after last month’s Rio Games took his tally to eight medals, is facing questions about his use of allergy injections that emerged in the leak.
While there was no suggestion of wrongdoing, the injections of ‘triamcinolone’ to treat an asthma problem appeared to undermine Wiggins’ previous claims that he had adhered to cycling’s ‘no needles’ policy.
In his 2012 autobiography, Wiggins wrote: “I’ve never had an injection, apart from vaccinations, and on occasion I’ve been put on a drip.”
