Team Sky has refuted claims that they and British Cycling had been "raided" by anti-doping officials at the Manchester Velodrome this week.
The team, according to the Daily Mail, is said to have been the subject of an investigation into the allegations made by former Team Sky cyclist Jonathan Tiernan-Locke.
The former team member claims to have been offered Tramadol, a pain-killer, during the 2012 World Championships with Great Britain despite being injury-free.
In an official statement released today, the team said that they had been "recently contacted by the Daily Mail regarding an allegation of wrongdoing which we strongly refute. We informed British Cycling of the allegation and asked them to contact UK Anti Doping (UKAD). We understand that UKAD are currently investigating this as you would expect.
"Some newspapers this morning have reported that Team Sky and British Cycling were 'raided' by UKAD yesterday. This was not the case. UKAD have confirmed they attended a meeting with British Cycling at the Velodrome in Manchester with their full cooperation.
"We welcome this investigation as we are confident there has been no wrongdoing. We take these issues seriously and we will cooperate fully with UKAD. We hope it can be completed as thoroughly and quickly as possible.
"In the meantime we hope that you will understand why we cannot comment on the specifics of the allegations or the details of the process.
"Team Sky abide by the rules. We are committed to clean competition and we want you to know that we 100% stand by that".
These allegations come just weeks after the controversy surrounding former Team Sky cyclist Brad Wiggins' legal use of a banned substance, a revelation that came as "no surprise" to Lance Armstrong who was speaking on Off The Ball yesterday evening.
*The Daily Mail has since changed the wording in their article from "raid" to "swoop".
Via Balls.ie
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