Cycling-Team Sky boss Brailsford defends Wiggins

LONDON, Sept 26 (Reuters) - Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins did not use a medical exemption to gain a performance boost before major races, Team Sky boss David Brailsford said on Monday in response to leaked documents. Wiggins has been accused of hypocrisy over the timing of his medical interventions since his anti-doping records were among those leaked this month by cyber hackers on the fancybear.net website. The data revealed Wiggins was given permission to take the powerful corticosteroid triamcinolone before his breakthrough triumph at the 2012 Tour de France as well as the 2011 version of the endurance classic and the 2013 Tour of Italy. Brailsford told the BBC that Team Sky "do not cross the line" when it comes to performance-enhancing drugs. He said Wiggins had not used the Therapeutic Use Exemptions (TUEs), which allow athletes to take banned substances for verified medical needs and are signed off by sports federations, for performance gain. There is no suggestion Wiggins has broken any rules. "I have known Bradley a long time and he is an asthma sufferer and he has struggled with allergies for as long as I have known him," said Brailsford. "I know that at the time there was a recommendation to see a specialist, he went to see a specialist and was then given permission by the authorities. "I trust and believe in the integrity of that process." Brailsford added that he had been aware at the time about what Wiggins was taking and had complete trust in the team doctors. He said he did not believe the reputations of rider or team had been tainted. Wiggins had told BBC TV in an interview broadcast on Sunday that the TUEs were "to cure a medical condition. This wasn't about trying to find a way to gain an unfair advantage". "This was about putting myself back on a level playing-field in order to compete at the highest level," he said. (Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Ed Osmond)