Team Sky Principal will only find out results when they're published
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David Brailsford and Chris Froome(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Chris Froome put the hammer down on the first mountain stage(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Chris Froome and Sky manager David Brailsford celebrate in Paris(Image credit: Getty Images)
Team Sky Principal Dave Brailsford believes that the results of Chris Froome’s independent testing will not stop the questions asked of his team. In the past, Team Sky have been accused of not being transparent enough but Brailsford thinks that Froome’s Tour de France victories mean that he needs to make extra efforts.
“It’s not a panacea. It’s not going to solve everything, but I can’t see the harm in it. You can never stop every single doubter. You can’t do that. However, what you can do is try - there’s no harm in trying,” said Brailsford, according to the Press Association. “I think the independence thing is a good thing. And why not? I can’t see the negative in it. There’s a lot of talk about transparency these days, trying to have a leadership role. He’s won the Tour twice, we should make the effort.
“There are opportunities to do what we can to make the unbelievable believable.”
Following intense scrutiny during the run towards his second Tour de France title, Froome announced he would submit himself to physiological testing. He travelled to the GlaxoSmithKline Human Performance lab ahead of the Vuelta a Espana in August. The results of the testing that Froome underwent are set to be released on December 3 in Esquire magazine – with a website version also expected. The results will also be published in a scientific journal.
Speaking at the Royal Institution, London in an event hosted by the blood cancer charity Bloodwise, Brailsford said that he has no prior knowledge of what would be printed as he has had no part in the testing. However, he said that he had no concerns as it would unlikely hold any surprises for him.
“I’ll find out when everyone else finds out. Otherwise for me I’d be part of the process and I didn’t want to be part of the process,” he said. “I don’t know what the results are going to be but I can pretty much bet the results are going to be the physiology of a Tour de France winning champion. We know that.”
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