Nicolas Roche: Bradley Wiggins row not affecting Team Sky at World Championships

Nicolas Roche is adamant Team Sky’s riders at the World Championships are not being affected by the questions surrounding the team.

The spotlight has been on the squad since the release of Sir Bradley Wiggins’s therapeutic use exemptions last month, with further questions regarding an alleged package delivered to Team Sky ahead of the Tour de France five years ago when Wiggins was part of their set-up.

The team have denied any wrongdoing and Roche, who said TUE use was “ethically wrong”, said all the Sky riders are focused on the job at hand in Doha this week.

Roche was part of the six-man line‑up in the team time trial — the others being Vasil Kiryienka, Michal Kwiatkowski, Ben Swift, Geraint Thomas, Danny van Poppel — that were fourth, 17 seconds off a bronze.

The same riders are set to line up for their nations later in the championships, and Roche, for whom the world championships will be his last event for Sky before switching to BMC, said: “The issues are related to 2011 when I think two-thirds of us here today were not even on the team. It’s something we have more info on from reading the media than anything else.

“We learn about it on Twitter and the internet. That’s how much we know about it.

“You just get the info at the same time as everybody else.”

Roche has been repeatedly outspoken on TUEs and told Cyclingnews.com: “You can do whatever you want against Wiggins but unfortunately, as far as ethically it’s wrong, he is within the rules.

“It is wrong that these rules are like that. Once we get those rules right, there won’t be any abuse.”