Damian Collins MP, the head of the House of Commons culture media and sport committee, has called upon Team Sky to give more detailed information about their use of the antioxidant and mucolytic Fluimucil, the substance that is said to have been in the package delivered to the team’s then doctor Richard Freeman at the Critérium du Dauphiné in 2011.
Following a Guardian investigation last week into the uses of Fluimucil, which showed it had been used by injection to aid recovery in the period before the UCI banned the use of needles in cycling in May 2011, Collins told the Observer: “Team Sky need to set out how they used Fluimucil, how often and for what purposes. British Cycling should also be in a position to state whether this was a drug they routinely kept in their stores and was it regularly supplied to Team Sky.”
Sky’s leader, Chris Froome, a three-times winner of the Tour de France, confirmed that at his previous team, Barloworld, he had been given injections of Fluimucil to assist recovery, something that was within the rules as it was before the needle ban. His team doctor at the squad added that the injections of Fluimucil were small and given to riders because of its antioxidant properties.
When he gave evidence to the committee of MPs on 19 December, Sir Dave Brailsford said that he understood Fluimucil was administered by a nebuliser, which turns the preparation into an airborne solution that can be inhaled in order to loosen up mucus within the lungs when a rider has breathing issues.