2023-08-15 18:16:40
Former Sky and British cycling team doctor Richard Freeman, who was accused of ordering testosterone for doping purposes in 2011, has been hit with a four-year ban, the UK announced on Tuesday. UK Anti-Doping Agency (UKAD).
Dr. Freeman was provisionally suspended in December 2020. His ban on any professional activity related to sport will stretch until December 2024.
The facts date back to Dauphiné 2011
He was the subject of two charges by the British anti-doping agency: one for possession of testosterone, a banned substance in cycling, and the other for tampering or attempting to tamper with an element of doping control.
UKAD launched an investigation in 2016 after receiving reports of a possible anti-doping rule violation during the 2011 Criterium du Dauphiné in France.
Richard Freeman, here in 2019, was convicted of prescribing testosterone for doping purposes. – Photo by Icon sport PA Images / Icon Sport
Richard Freeman admitted 18 of the 22 charges against him, but he denied the central charge relating to the subject of an order for Testogel, a hormone treatment used to treat symptoms related to testosterone deficiency .
Testosterone to treat erection problems?
He claimed at the time that the testosterone had been ordered to treat former performance manager Shane Sutton’s erection problems, which Sutton denied.
The case has cast a shadow over the British national cycling team, which has become a dominant force at the Olympics, and the former Sky team, winners of the Tour de France on several occasions in the 2010s, with the victories of Bradley Wiggins in 2012, Chris Froome in 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2017, Geraint Thomas in 2018 and Egan Bernal in 2019 (the team was then renamed Ineos).
The decision handed down on Tuesday “confirms that Richard Freeman breached the UK anti-doping rules”, explained UKAD chief executive Jane Rumble. “The rules are put in place to make sure that everyone contributes to keeping the sport clean and that all athletes are on an equal footing.”
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