Chris Froome has refused to offer his backing to Team Sky principal Dave Brailsford, according to reports in the Telegraph and the Daily Mail, which say the three-time Tour de France winner refused to add his name to a statement of support that all riders were asked to sign.
Cyclingnews broke the news this week that some Sky riders had discussed asking Brailsford to resign and, while many riders took to Twitter to simultaneously voice their support for their boss, Froome spoke volumes by remaining silent.
The Telegraph and Mail reports add weight to the suspicion that the 31-year-old has lost faith in the embattled Brailsford, who has found himself under increasing pressure as damaging details about the team’s medical practices continue to emerge from the investigation into the medical package – alleged to contain triamcinolone – delivered to team doctor Richard Freeman at the 2011 Criterium du Dauphine and administered to Bradley Wiggins on the team bus.
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Doubts over Froome’s support for Brailsford surfaced in January, shortly after the boss had claimed the package contained the legal decongestant fluimucil – a claim that no one has yet been able to substantiate. At a press gathering in Monaco, Froome was repeatedly asked if he still had faith in Brailsford's ability to champion the team’s credibility, to which he replied “That’s not really for me to say” before switching the focus to his own personal credibility.
He was one of 10 riders from Team Sky’s roster of 28 not to voice his support for Brailsford in the wake of the Cyclingnews story, which came on the back of a damaging week for the team. Further details of the medical practices emerged at a parliamentary committee, where the Chair Damian Collins MP described the credibility of Team Sky and British Cycling as being “in tatters”.
While a flurry of tweets appeared affirming ‘100%’ faith in Brailsford, Froome only tweeted about his latest dinner in South Africa, where he has been training.
- Cooke 'sceptical' about Team Sky's use of TUEs and Wiggins' jiffy bag
- Brailsford says mysterious package contained legal drug Fluimucil
- Bradley Wiggins doctor pulls out of anti-doping select hearing due to illness
- Timeline of UKAD investigation into Team Sky and British Cycling
- UKAD launch damning attack on Team Sky and British Cycling over medical practices
- Brailsford: Freeman gave me an injection of triamcinolone
- Bradley Wiggins' doctor provided Team Sky staff with triamcinolone
Team denies report that Sky will withdraw backing
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
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