Wiggins should lose Le Tour title: Landis

Floyd Landis, who was stripped of his 2006 Tour de France title for doping, has called for Bradley Wiggins to lose his 2012 after recent allegations.

Bradley Wiggins.

Bradley Wiggins and Sky stand accused of crossing an 'ethical line' over therapeutic use exemptions. (AAP)

Stripped former champion Floyd Landis has called for Bradley Wiggins to lose his 2012 Tour de France title following allegations made in a parliamentary report.

The Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) committee's report accused Wiggins, Team Sky and team boss Dave Brailsford of "crossing an ethical line" in applying for therapeutic use exemptions (TUEs) for banned medication.

Wiggins has categorically denied cheating and has always maintained that he required the anti-inflammatory steroid triamcinolone to treat asthma and pollen allergies.

The DCMS report acknowledged that the use of TUEs in competition did not violate the World Anti-Doping Agency code, however it argued that it was their belief that drugs were used by Team Sky "to enhance the performance of riders, and not just to treat medical need".

Landis, who lost the Tour de France title he won in 2006 following a positive drugs test, believes Wiggins should now be suspended and have his 2012 victory stricken from records.

The American was a former teammate of Lance Armstrong's and initially denied doping before becoming the chief whistleblower in a federal case against cycling's most recognised name.

"Wiggins should lose his Tour title," Landis told cyclingnews.

"I can't see how the sport authorities can let it slide. You can't take them seriously if they don't act.

"There's a report right there for them and for me WADA have no choice but to suspend him and take his title away. If they were legitimate, that's what they'd do."

WADA have not yet responded to the report.

It is understood Team Sky are backing their under-fire boss Brailsford, yet Landis has also argued the DCMS report could spell the end for a team whose riders have won five of the past six Tours.

"This has to be the end of the team. I'm 100 per cent sure that there will not be a Sky team at the Tour de France this year," Landis added.

"The little pieces add up and no one with more than two brain cells would add it all up and conclude that it was all just coincidental."


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Source: AAP



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