World cycling boss Brian Cookson would be surprised and disappointed if a UK anti-doping inquiry found against the powerful Sky team.
Cookson was president at British cycling in 2011-12 when Sky and star rider Bradley Wiggins were dominating the sport.
Team boss Dave Brailsford went before a parliamentary committee to answer questions about a mystery jiffy bag that a British Cycling coach brought from the UK to France in 2011 for Wiggins.
Separately, the Russian Fancy Bears hacking last year also revealed Wiggins was administered Triamcinolone in 2012-13 as a TUE (therapeutic use exemption).
Last month, Wiggins confirmed his retirement from the sport.
News that makes sense
Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.
"Of course it's frustrating when a high-profile athlete in our sport is open to controversy and allegations, but let's see what comes out of the inquiry," Cookson said.
"I think the important thing here is that we let the UK Anti-Doping inquiry run its course.
"When I was president of British Cycling, when setting up a professional team that we had major involvement in, we wanted to make sure that the (Sky) team had the highest standards of ethics possible.
"And if that slipped, I would be very surprised and disappointed."
There is no suggestion that Wiggins or Sky broke any rules with the TUE, but it inevitably attracted speculation and debate.
Cookson, in Adelaide for the Tour Down Under, said the UCI had since tightened its TUE protocol because of a 2014 controversy involving fellow Sky star Chris Froome.
He said cycling now had as a good a TUE protocol as any sport.
"We have as robust of a system as we have possible within the WADA code," he said.
Cookson was careful with his comments, particularly on the UK anti-doping inquiry, noting there was potential for a conflict of interest given his role at British Cycling at the time of the TUEs and the jiffy bag incident.
