Could A Lie Detector Test Help Clear Sir Bradley Wiggins’ Name?

British cycling champion Sir Bradley Wiggins has been under fire recently after he was accused of using performance enhancing medication to win the 2012 Tour de France.

The five-time Olympic champion has been slammed in a parliamentary report claiming that Team Sky and Wiggins used drugs that are allowed for medical purposes to increase his speed instead.

Thirty-seven year-old Wiggins was taking corticosteroid triamcinolone for the treatment of allergies and respiratory problems before the 2011 Tour de France, 2012 Tour de France and 2013 Giro d’Italia.

He also won gold at the Olympic Games in London 2012, making him the first cyclist to take home the top prize for the Tour de France and Olympics in the same year.

He claimed he was given therapeutic use exemption (TUE) to take the medication due to the grass pollen of the season.

Speaking to the BBC, Wiggins stated: “These problems flared up riding through fields and we are riding for three weeks at a time through France, it was the biggest race of the year. I had won everything that season, I wasn’t going to jeopardise the work we had put in at that stage.”

He explained that he, therefore, did not require it during indoor races, adding that if there was a performance enhancement side-effect of the drugs, he was not aware of it.

The BBC reported him saying this is merely a smear campaign and he refutes the allegations “100 per cent”. However, he admits he cannot clear his name against this rumour.

The use of a lie detector in Surrey could help the sporting champion prove these suggestions are unsubstantiated, as the machinery will determine whether he is telling the truth or not.

Wiggins states “intention … is the key to it”. Therefore, if he can prove he did not intend to enhance his performance during the competition, he may be able to regain respect among his peers and fans.