There is no suggestion of wrongdoing by Wiggins or anyone involved in his applications for TUEs. But Brailsford’s admission that Wiggins may have been treated with triamcinolone as much to prevent him becoming ill at the Tour as to treat any active symptoms was also interesting as it suggested that the team were prepared to use the drug as a preventative measure and that Wiggins might not actually have been that ill.

Wiggins claimed on Sunday that he had been “really struggling” with asthma prior to the 2012 Tour.

“We support them [the riders] as much as we can with all sorts of interventions, around health in particular,” said Brailsford who said he would rather stick with the UCI and the World Anti-Doping Agency’s regulations on TUEs than align with the Movement for Credible Cycling group of teams who say they voluntarily withdraw their riders from competition if they have had a TUE for a corticosteroid.