Chris Froome says he has not been treated with triamcinolone at Team Sky

Chris Froome says he is not among those who have been administered with triamcinolone by Team Sky. Speaking about the team environment, he added: “It hasn’t been my experience that triamcinolone has been handed around freely, as has been suggested.”

Medical records leaked by the Fancy Bears hackers who accessed the World Anti-Doping Agency’s website last year revealed that Sir Bradley Wiggins secured a therapeutic use exemption (TUE) for the banned corticosteroid triamcinolone ahead of the Tour de France in 2011 and 2012, as well as the 2013 Giro d’Italia.

Team Sky chairman Graham McWilliam later revealed that the team had ordered 55 ampoules of the substance between 2010 and 2013 and UK Anti-Doping is currently investigating allegations of possible wrongdoing.

Froome has previously said that there are questions over Wiggins’ use of triamcinolone, but added that it was impossible to say if the rider had been operating in a grey area without knowing the exact details of his medical condition.

McWilliam said that “only a small proportion” of the 55 ampoules were administered to Team Sky riders and speaking to The Guardian, Froome stated that he was not among them.

He also claimed that it has not been a subject weighing on his mind ahead of this year’s race.

“Honestly I haven’t given it much thought. It’s not something I’ve gone and done my own investigation on. I’ve been so focused on trying to get ready for July and I think the investigation has been happening in the background. I’ve been happy to let it be, let the professionals deal with that. My focus has been on July and getting ready for that.”

Earlier in the year, a number of Team Sky riders took to Twitter to express public support for Sir Dave Brailsford in the wake of the public criticism resulting from the controversy, but Froome was not among them.

While he made his own statement backing his team principal a week later, there remains a suspicion that the riders had privately been questioning whether Brailsford should remain in his job.

Asked whether that was the case, Froome replied: “No. Dave has created this team and it is where it is as a result of that. It has been successful as a result of his leadership.”

Asked whether he has faith in Brailsford’s running of Team Sky, he answered: “If I look at my experiences with Dave and the team, I don’t have any questions in that respect. I’ve had a successful relationship with Dave and the team that’s led to three Tour victories for me and the team. I’m not questioning that relationship. It’s a good working relationship.”

He added: “I think it’s also safe to say that sometimes Dave and I don’t agree on absolutely everything. That’s only natural. When you have a team of 100 guys you are not going to agree with everyone about everything. It’s an opportunity to challenge each other, to improve and work better in a lot of different ways.”