'Until this is cleared up all those involved shouldn't be near the sport': MP calls for Ineos to suspend Dave Brailsford
The former shadow sports minister, Clive Efford, has called for a full investigation and that the Ineos boss has questions to answer

Dave Brailsford (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
A British MP has called for Dave Brailsford to be suspended by Ineos pending a full investigation into how former Team Sky doctor, Richard Freeman, came to order testosterone ‘knowing or believing’ it was to help dope a rider. Ineos Genadiers have denied any wrongdoing.
"Until this is cleared up, all those involved shouldn’t be anywhere near the sport," former shadow sports minister, Clive Efford, who is now a member of the Digital, Culture, Media & Sport select committee, told the Telegraph.
"Clearly, there are questions to be answered and people should be suspended while this is properly investigated."
After contesting four of the 22 charges brought against him by the General Medical Council, admitting to the other 18, including purchasing the banned drug Testogel and lying to the UK Anti-Doping Agency (UKAD), the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) said parts of Freeman's explanations of the case "stretched credulity" and that "the motive for your action was to conceal your conduct".
Following the MPTS verdict, UKAD announced Dr Freeman would be provisionally suspended from all sport as it charged him with two violations, ‘Possession of Prohibited Substances and/or Prohibited Methods and Tampering or Attempted Tampering with any part of Doping Control’.
Efford has added that the ruling against Freeman has shown Team Sky's "zero tolerance" approach to performance-enhancing drugs is nothing more than "a tissue of lies" and that Brailsford now has questions to answer.
"Dave Brailsford gave reassurances about how clean his teams were and unless he was in full control of what was going on, he couldn’t make those assurances," Efford said.
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
"We have to question, if he didn’t know, why didn’t he? And if it was possible for this to happen, how could he have given assurances that his team was clean?"
Mary O’Rourke QC asked during the tribunal why Brailsford hadn't been called to give evidence.
"Dave Brailsford is the spectre missing at these proceedings,” she said. "He would have been able to answer an awful lot of questions about what was going on at British Cycling and Team Sky. He was never called."
In response to the Freeman verdict, Team Ineos said in a statement: "The Team fully supports the work of the GMC and it is very clear from their report that Richard Freeman fell short of the ethical standards required of him as a doctor and acted dishonestly.
"However the Team does not believe that any athlete ever used or sought to use Testogel or any other performance enhancing substance. No evidence has been provided that this ever happened or that there has been any wrongdoing by any athlete at any point. We will continue to give our full support and co-operation to UKAD, as we have done throughout this process, as they continue to investigate his conduct. We will not be making any further comment."
Thank you for reading 20 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access
Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription
Join now for unlimited access
Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
Jonny was Cycling Weekly's Weekend Editor until 2022.
I like writing offbeat features and eating too much bread when working out on the road at bike races.
Before joining Cycling Weekly I worked at The Tab and I've also written for Vice, Time Out, and worked freelance for The Telegraph (I know, but I needed the money at the time so let me live).
I also worked for ITV Cycling between 2011-2018 on their Tour de France and Vuelta a España coverage. Sometimes I'd be helping the producers make the programme and other times I'd be getting the lunches. Just in case you were wondering - Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen had the same ham sandwich every day, it was great.
-
‘I’m pregnant and just raced to 9th place at one of the top gravel events in the country’ - Here’s why I am racing for two
From sponsors to instincts, here’s how I’m navigating pregnancy as a professional athlete
By Isabel King Published
-
'Given the circumstances, it's very impressive that he finished this stage' - Jonas Vingegaard crashes at Paris-Nice, loses 26 seconds on stage 5
Visma-Lease a Bike rider left with cut on lip and and ceded race lead on Thursday, understood to have hurt wrist
By Adam Becket Published
-
Could a TotalEnergies deal be the end of Ineos Grenadiers as we know them?
Reports suggested this week that Ineos could be close to signing a deal with the French petrochemical firm
By Tom Thewlis Published
-
'They’re racing with their hearts again' - Robbie McEwen on Ineos Grenadiers' bright start to 2025
The British squad have already won four times in 2025
By Tom Thewlis Published
-
Ineos Grenadiers are entertaining so far this year, but how long will it last?
The British WorldTour squad have won four times already in 2025, but more than that, they have been fun. Is this the new dawn?
By Adam Becket Published
-
Caleb Ewan says he was put in a 'bad situation' by Jayco AlUla before he joined Ineos Grenadiers
Ewan joined Ineos Grenadiers in January after spending just one year with Jayco AlUla
By Tom Thewlis Published
-
'There's no bull****, that's what I've always liked' - Geraint Thomas's first BC coach Rod Ellingworth on the retiring Welshman
The 2018 Tour de France winner will step away from professional cycling at the end of the season
By Tom Thewlis Published
-
'It is time to change goals' - Egan Bernal's coach confirms Ineos Grenadiers exit
'I want to thank all the cyclists I have had the opportunity to coach over the past ten years' Xabier Artetxe says in LinkedIn post
By Tom Thewlis Published
-
Geraint Thomas represented 'all the best things about the golden era of British Cycling' - tributes paid to retiring rider
Former and current teammates and other figures from within pro cycling react to the Welshman’s decision to retire at the end of the current season
By Tom Thewlis Published
-
Ineos Grenadiers win first pro race in 226 days as Michał Kwiatkowski triumphs at Clásica Jaén
It was the Pole's 32nd professional victory, and his first since 2023
By Adam Becket Published