The former chief doctor of Team Sky and British Cycling, Richard Freeman, has been handed a four-year doping ban by the national anti-doping panel. This sanction comes as a result of Freeman’s possession of a banned substance and his dishonesty in lying to UK Anti-Doping investigators.
Freeman’s ban marks the first official doping sanction for a member of staff from the golden era of British Cycling, a period during which the team achieved remarkable success in both track and road cycling. Notably, Freeman served as the physician for the team during the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games and also worked closely with prominent cyclists such as Sir Bradley Wiggins.
The ban stems from Freeman’s involvement in ordering 30 sachets of a banned testosterone to the National Cycling Centre. The substances were intended to enhance the performance of an unnamed rider. This incident led to Freeman being struck off the medical register in 2021. He was found guilty of having knowledge or belief that the testosterone was intended for enhancing a rider’s performance.
During his defense, Freeman had claimed that the Testogel sachets were purchased to treat the erectile dysfunction of the former British Cycling technical director Shane Sutton. However, this defense was previously dismissed by a medical practitioners tribunal in 2021. The tribunal questioned why Freeman did not inform his colleagues Phil Burt or Dr. Steve Peters about the package when it was delivered to the Manchester velodrome in 2011, where both teams were based.
The national anti-doping panel, chaired by Charles Flint KC alongside David Casement KC and Prof Dorian Haskard, also rejected Freeman’s claims. They noted that Freeman only mentioned a “non-rider” staff member’s involvement in the testosterone order during his interview with UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) on February 17, 2017. The panel found it puzzling that Freeman did not disclose this information earlier if he genuinely believed the Testogel was meant for Shane Sutton.
Frank Slevin, the chair of British Cycling, expressed disappointment in Freeman’s conduct during his tenure with the national governing body. Slevin acknowledged that Freeman’s actions did not align with the high ethical and professional standards expected by the organization, its members, and its partners.
Slevin also highlighted the lingering uncertainty surrounding the case, particularly regarding the recipient of the package and whether the banned substance was used on any rider. He urged individuals with relevant information to share it with UK Anti-Doping in order to shed light on these remaining uncertainties.
