Marcel Kittel warns Sir Bradley Wiggins' reputation could further be tarnished by TUE controversy

Mracel Kittel, one of the world's premier sprinters, has warned Sir Bradley Wiggins' reputation could further be tarnished by the therapeutic use exemption [TUE] scandal that has currently engulfed him and Team Sky.

The storm blew up last September when the Fancy Bears hack of Wiggins' confidential medical records revealed the 2012 Tour de France champion and five-time Olympic gold medallist used Triamcinolone ahead of his Tour victory, as well as the previous year's edition and the 2013 Giro D'Italia.

Wiggins' use of the drug – for which he received a TUE and by doing so there is no indication he, or Team Sky, broke any rules – raised eyebrows and led to a wider debate about the use of TUEs in sport.

German sprinter Marcel Kittel, who has won stages in all three of cycling's Grand Tours, has said that TUEs have "no space in our sport anymore", and warned Wiggins' – now retired – could face further criticism the longer the controversy rumbles on.

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"The bigger the story gets, the more it will also fall back on his career and on himself," said the 28-year-old Quick-Step Floors rider.

Wiggins has switched management companies in the wake of the controversy, and Kittel did not equivocate in his views on the issue of TUEs.

Wiggins and Team Sky claim the rider required the medication to combat asthma brought on by an allergy to grass pollen, but the German said anyone requiring such strong medication should simply not ride.

Team Sky director Sir Dave Brailsford has also become embroiled in the scandal.

Image credit: AFP

"I don't think that anyone who is seriously sick should use those TUEs or, if he has to use them because he needs to recover from an injury or whatever, then he should also take time and really recover from it and then come back afterwards."

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