Sir Bradley Wiggins' wife Catherine sorry for Chris Froome 'reptile' barb
Catherine Wiggins also claimed her husband had been thrown "over the bus' to cover for the under-fire Tour de France winner.
Friday 15 December 2017 18:42, UK
The wife of Sir Bradley Wiggins has apologised for calling under-fire cyclist Chris Froome a "slithering reptile" on social media.
Catherine Wiggins made the comment on Facebook after news emerged on Wednesday that the four-time Tour de France champion .
Froome, 32, has denied allegations of hypocrisy over his use of Salbutamol during the 2017 Vuelta race in Spain, despite having previously (therapeutic use exemptions) to help cyclists manage the impact of medical conditions prior to key races.
Former Team Sky teammate Sir Bradley's use of injections to treat asthma and hayfever appeared to be in his sights last year when he said TUEs were .
In a post that has since been deleted, Mrs Wiggins said: "I am going to be sick. Nothing in the news. If I was given to conspiracy theory I'd allege they'd thrown my boy under the bus on purpose to cover for this slithering reptile."
She later apologised for the "emotional comments and insults".
"Heat of the moment things and certainly not my intent to fan any flames," she added.
Sir Bradley - whose rivalry with Froome dates back to the 2012 Tour de France when he was picked as team leader for the race - has also been the subject of questions over wrongdoing in the sport this year.
In November he hit out at UK Anti-Doping over a 14-month investigation into a package delivered to his Team Sky doctor Richard Freeman after a race in 2011, claiming that it had made his life "a living hell".
The UKAD was unable to prove what was in the package, commonly known as a Jiffy bag, after suggestions that it may have contained the drug Fluimucil, which can help break up thick mucus in the lungs and make it easier to breathe.