07/11/2023

"I can only speak from my side and he was always above board with me" - Geraint Thomas denies knowledge of former Team Sky doctor's doping transgressions

Former Team Sky and British Cycling chief doctor, Richard Freeman has recently been given a four-year ban from all sports due to being found guilty of an anti-doping ban. Understandably, this has left some with questions surrounding the dominance Team Sky held on Grand Tour cycling during the last decade.

A stalwart of the team and former Tour de France winner, Geraint Thomas has been there since the start and through the change to the INEOS Grenadiers. As such he saw a lot of Freeman and whilst he doesn't doubt the finding of the court, the Welshman himself never saw such incidents in person.

Former Team Sky doctor given four-year ban for violating anti-doping rules

“I worked with him and he always had the riders’ interests at heart and he was a good guy,” Thomas says of Freeman in an interview with UK newspaper, The Guardian. “I don’t know everything that happened but I heard stories about him being suicidal. Obviously, that’s really sad.”

One real point of contention regarding Freeman and Team Sky was the therapeutic use exemption given to Bradley Wiggins in 2011, although it must be noted, Wiggins denies any wrongdoing. "With the whole Brad stuff I can’t see why anyone would do anything to risk being on the wrong side of the doping. But it’s hard with Freeman. I can only speak from my side and he was always above board with me," recalls Thomas.

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Towards the end of their time as Team Sky, the team was given considerable abuse whilst on the road, including at the 2015 Tour de France when Chris Froome famously was covered in urine by 'supporters' at the roadside.

“As soon as we changed sponsor, it became much less. It was pantomime, really, with Sky. Then we changed to INEOS and I don’t think the people booing put two and two together. They weren’t really cycling fans," says Thomas of the boo-boys. "And when you’re not winning, people love you more. A lot of people now don’t want Jumbo to win and the main reason is jealousy and the fact they’re dominating.”