Chris Froome was unaware that Sir Bradley Wiggins had official permission to receive injections of a ­powerful steroid prior to three of the biggest races of his career, including the 2012 Tour de France where they famously fell out as team-mates en route to Wiggins’s win.

It remains unclear, however, how many others at Team Sky had knowledge of Wiggins’s therapeutic use exemptions (TUEs), with the British team coming under increasing pressure to explain why and how Wiggins was prescribed the drug triamcinolone, particularly after Wiggins appeared to suggest on The Andrew Marr Show on Sunday that the team proactively encouraged him to take something prior to the 2012 Tour.

Speaking for the first time since the furore erupted 10 days ago following the hacking of his medical data by Fancy Bears, Wiggins told Marr he was approached by Team Sky staff in the build-up to the race who said, “Bradley you’re on track here, you’re – you’re the favourite to win this race, now we need to make sure the next three weeks is – is there anything we can help with at the moment?”