In a written answer to the House of Commons culture, media and sport committee, Team Sky have given further details of their doctor’s purchase of Fluimucil at a pharmacy in Switzerland, where he had prescription rights. Sky stated their then doctor, Richard Freeman, had bought the decongestant in April 2011 at the Pharmacie de la Plaine in the Swiss town of Yverdon.

That again raised the question of why the medicine had to be flown from Manchester to be administered to Sir Bradley Wiggins after the 2011 Critérium du Dauphiné. The courier Simon Cope brought the padded bag which Sky have stated contained Fluimucil from Manchester, where he had collected it a couple of days earlier, to the final stage of the Dauphiné at La Toussuire. The Alpine resort is within driving distance of Switzerland, like other stage venues in the second half of that year’s Dauphiné.

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Sky also gave some further clarity on the 55 ampoules of triamcinolone ordered on their behalf, a proportion of which has been accounted for via their medical record system, although it remains to be specified how the rest was used. Triamcinolone was the drug administered to Wiggins before major tours in 2011, 2012 and 2013, after the issuing of legal clearance to do so via a therapeutic use exemption (TUE) for the treatment of pollen allergies.

The chair of the committee, Damian Collins MP, wrote to Sky last week following their release of a statement in which they confirmed the team had ordered 55 ampoules of the corticosteroid between 2010 and 2013, adding that, “according to Dr Freeman, the majority was used in his private practice and to treat Team Sky and British Cycling staff”.

Collins asked Sky how many ampoules of triamcinolone were administered to Team Sky riders during this period and how many Team Sky riders received the treatment. The team replied that for reasons of medical confidentiality, “Team Sky cannot divulge specific information which might reveal the identity of any rider’s medical treatment” but added that, “based on Team Sky’s shared medical records, less than 10 ampoules of triamcinolone were administered to Team Sky’s riders” over the period.

Team Sky have previously stated “a small part of the [medical] notes for a few riders [including Wiggins] were not uploaded by Dr Freeman”. That means that as well as the possibility the doctor used the corticosteroid for private patients, as they have suggested, there remains the possibility some of the triamcinolone may have gone to riders whose medical records were not uploaded. These were contained in his laptop, which was stolen in 2014 and subsequently wiped.

Asked by Collins which riders’ notes were missing, the team replied, “for reasons of medical confidentiality, Team Sky cannot provide the names of individual riders. Moreover, we do not think that it would be fair to put the spotlight on any rider simply because of an administrative oversight”. The team emphasised “we would only ever allow triamcinolone to be provided as a legitimate and justified medical treatment in accordance with anti-doping rules”.

With Dr Freeman’s record keeping in the spotlight, notably his difficulty using the team doctors’ shared Dropbox system, Sky added it had been the responsibility of their former clinical director Dr Steve Peters “to review whether rider medical notes were being uploaded properly”, and that Peters “did take steps to improve compliance in respect of Team Sky policies.”

Reacting to Team Sky’s responses, Collins criticised an apparent lack of good governance. “I think the team is obliged to know what is going on – particularly one that has talked about higher standards. It’s a question of good governance and it seems to be lacking.”