Cycling: Brailsford’s angry attack on dope jibes

SIR Dave Brailsford has responded to the innuendo and insinuation that Team Sky’s success is built on immoral foundations by pointing to the consistent achievements of the Great Britain cycling team.

The Team Sky principal, who is also British Cycling performance director, has admitted making mistakes, in particular in the recruitment of Belgian doctor Geert Leinders, who had a chequered history with Rabobank.

Like Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins, Brailsford, who masterminded the British team’s haul of eight gold medals at the Beijing 2008 and London 2012 Olympics, angrily refutes the internet rumours which continue to follow the success of his team.

“If you’re a cheat, you’re a cheat, you’re not half a cheat,” Brailsford said on www.cyclingnews.com. “You wouldn’t say, ‘I’ll cheat here but I’m not going to cheat over there’.

“So why didn’t I dope the Olympic team for the last 15 years? Have I just decided I’m going to do it with this team? But we’ve dominated the Olympic games for 15 years. Explain that to me.”

Meanwhile, British Cycling has appointed Andy Harrison, operations manager for the English Institute of Sport, as programmes director to provide additional support to Brailsford.