Doctors allegedly 'rebelled' against plans to give Team Sky rider Sir Bradley Wiggins a banned substance on medical grounds for a fourth time.

Wiggins had been granted therapeutic medical exemptions (TUEs) to use otherwise banned drug triamcinolone to treat asthma and allergies before the 2011 and 2012 Tour de France races and 2013 Giro d’Italia.

But when Dr Richard Freeman planned to apply for a fourth TUE ahead of the Tour of Britain in 2013, it prompted uproar among fellow Team Sky doctors who felt it was at odds with their anti-doping policy.

Sir Bradley Wiggins (right) pictured with Team Sky boss Dave Brailsford. The 2012 Tour de France champion has come under fire for using corticosteroid triamcinolone before three major races after obtaining medical exemptions (TUEs)

According to The Sunday Times, medics changed Dr Freeman's password to the World Doping Agency's TUE application website and then 'refused to give him the new one'.

The dispute over the drug - which has been used to improve performance by doping cyclists in the past - was partly down to other medics anger that he was not communicating with the team.

It comes amid scandal surrounding the mystery delivery of triamcinolone to Dr Freeman at the team's base in 2011, which has prompted UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) investigation.

Dr Freeman had previously successfully applied for TUEs for Wiggins to use controversial drug triamcinolone and both Wiggins and Team Sky have claimed the use of the drug was medically necessary.

Dr Steve Peters, at one stage the head of medicine at British Cycling, also confirmed to The Sunday Times that an order of highly controversial testosterone patches was sent to the medical room at the National Cycling Centre 'in error' by a pharmaceutical company.

At the time, the facility was used by both the professional cycling team and the governing body’s World Class Performance Programme.

Team Sky medics are said to have 'rebelled' against doctor Richard Freeman, pictured , over his application for TUEs for Wiggins without their knowledge

Peters explained to sportswriter David Walsh that Dr Richard Freeman ordered all medications at the time when the testosterone patches arrived in 2011. Freeman is the doctor at the centre of the UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) investigation into a medical package sent to France for Sir Bradley Wiggins.

Peters insisted there were documents to prove a medical supplier had made a mistake.

Team Sky do not appear to have produced the documentation, however, and Peters had also admitted that he did not inform team principal Sir Dave Brailsford of the testosterone patches delivery — despite the potential PR disaster had it become public knowledge.

Team Sky, Brailsford and Freeman are already under massive pressure after UKAD revealed to a parliamentary select committee that they have been unable to explain to investigators what happened to a large order of triamcinolone.

Wiggins has come under fire for gaining a medical exemption to use the corticosteroid triamcinolone before three major races, including his win in the 2012 Tour de France.

Steve Peters admitted he did not inform Brailsford (pictured) of the testosterone delivery

UKAD told MPs last week that their investigation was sparked last September by an allegation that the Wiggins Jiffy bag medical package contained triamcinolone.

UKAD chief executive Nicole Sapstead said Freeman’s failure to keep proper records that can explain either the package or the triamcinolone order could well be a matter for the General Medical Council.

But it appears the testosterone patches order may have also caught the attention of the UKAD investigators.

Peters told The Sunday Times: ‘I was with a colleague when the order arrived and it was immediately brought to our attention. Dr Freeman explained that the order had never been placed and so must have been sent in error.

‘He contacted the supplier by phone the same day and they confirmed this. I asked Dr Freeman to re-pack and return it to the supplier and to make sure they provided written confirmation that it was sent in error and had been received.

‘That confirmation arrived and was shown to me by Dr Freeman. I was satisfied that this was simply an administrative error and it wasn’t necessary to escalate it further, and so Dave Brailsford was not made aware.’

Wiggins has come under fire for gaining an exemption to use corticosteroid triamcinolone

Wiggins has said he needed the drug for asthma and allergy problems but other doctors were uncomfortable using it because it has a history of abuse in cycling, not least because it can aid weight loss and recovery.

David Millar, a convicted doper, admits it was the ‘most potent’ banned drug he ever used.

The Sunday Times claim that at least one further attempt to secure a medical exemption for the drug for Wiggins was blocked during his time at Team Sky, enabled by the fact that the policy changed at Team Sky for such certificates. From 2013 at least two doctors had to sign off a request.