• Team Sky rider calls for urgent action on medical exemptions in cycling • ‘It is clear that the TUE system is open to abuse,’ Froome says on Twitter

Chris Froome has called for the World Anti-Doping Agency and cycling’s governing body, the UCI, to urgently address the controversial use of medical exemptions in the sport. In comments that could be interpreted as criticism of his former team-mate Sir Bradley Wiggins and current employer, Team Sky, the three-times Tour de France winner said the system is “open to abuse”.

Sir Dave Brailsford puts up stout defence but questions hang in the air Read more

Froome, who was also part of Team GB’s squad at the Rio Olympics, was revealed by the Fancy Bears hackers to have been issued with two therapeutic exemption certificates for prednisolone, which is used to treat a variety of inflammatory and autoimmune conditions.

The day after the Team Sky principal, Sir Dave Brailsford, defended the team’s use of TUEs and insisted they had done nothing wrong, a statement published on Froome’s Twitter account on Tuesday attempted to distance the 31-year-old from the controversy. Posted under the heading ‘My View’, Froome made it clear he had not cheated but suggested that the rules need closer examination.

“I take my position in the sport very seriously and I know I have to abide by the rules but also go above and beyond that to set a good example both morally and ethically,” he wrote. “It is clear the TUE system is open to abuse and I believe this is something the UCI and Wada need to urgently address. At the same time there are athletes who not only abide by the rules that are in place but also those of fair play.

“I have never had a ‘win at all costs’ approach in this regard,” Froome added. “I am not looking to push the boundaries of the rules. I believe this is something athletes need to take responsibilty for themselves, until more stringent protocols can be put in place.”

Chris Froome (@chrisfroome) My view pic.twitter.com/A7fGX6nDxU

Froome had formerly defended his use of TUEs, saying he had “no issues” with the leaks, pointing out he has spoken publicly about being granted TUEs. He was prescribed exemptions for five days during the Critérium du Dauphiné in May 2013 at and seven days during the Tour of Romandie in April 2014.

Wiggins’s use of TUEs in 2011, 2012 and 2013, before his biggest race of those seasons, has come under more scrutiny, particularly the injections of the powerful corticosteroid triamcinolone before his Tour win. There is no suggestion either rider has done anything wrong.

Yet Froome’s comments may be interpreted in the context of his fractious relationship with his former team-mate. Froome, who acted as Wiggins’s key lieutenant during the 2012 Tour de France, has frequently clashed with him – not least on stage 17 of the 2012 race when he briefly appeared to defy team orders on the slope of the Peyresourde and took off without Wiggins in tow.

The Team Sky sports director, Sean Yates, later claimed Wiggins had come close to quitting the Tour because he believed he had been “stabbed in the back” by Froome.