Dr. Richard Freeman claims he was "bullied" by Shane Sutton into ordering a sachet of Test Gel Testosterone sent to British Cycling's headquarters in Manchester in the spring of 2011, and former British Cycling and Team Sky The medic's medical tribunal began in earnest on Friday, revealing new details of the case.

The tribunal has spent more than a week debating an amendment to one of the key allegations. The modification was granted on Thursday morning, and the hearing finally began on Friday: of the 22 allegations, Freeman is now contesting only four, all relating to the provision of banned testosterone to British Cycling and Team Sky's offices, both in and out of competition. All others have been proven or admitted by Freeman.

The key allegation from an anti-doping perspective is 12b, which could open a formal investigation for an anti-doping rule violation.

The identity of the alleged athlete is still unknown.

Simon Jackson, a lawyer for the General Medical Council (GMC), on Friday revealed a key part of Freeman's statement written in September. Freeman's team says the statement is true after Freeman admitted that he had previously told "many lies."

According to a detailed BBC report, "Shane Sutton specifically requested that I prescribe him a test gel," said Freeman's witness.

"I was bullied into prescribing it to him."

Freeman also claimed in his statement that the test gel was used to treat Sutton's erectile dysfunction. Jackson, however, stated in Sutton's witness statement that the former Great Britain and Team Sky coach claimed that he received treatment and prescriptions from Freeman, which did not include Testogel.

Sutton is scheduled to appear as a witness next Monday and Tuesday, with the GMC prosecution suggesting that Sutton became "a scapegoat for Freeman to cover up his previous misconduct."

Jackson denied this, explaining that Sutton had denied this and that the GMC case was instead about "microdosing" athletes as a way to improve their performance.

According to the BBC, Jackson said he would submit British Cycling's medical records to prove that Sutton did not need testosterone. Jackson suggested that there had been a long-standing dispute between Freeman and Sutton.

Prosecutors also suggested that Freeman put "soft pressure" on Trish Meats of Fit4Sports, the medical supply company that supplied the test gels, to send an e-mail and get him out of a "self-inflicted situation." A statement from Meats revealed that the test gels had not been returned and were still being debited from British Cycling's account.

In response to the GMC prosecution's charges, Freeman's attorney, Mary O'Rourke, argued that the GMC had "reached an unsustainable conclusion."

She confirmed that in addition to Sutton, former British Cycling physio Phil Burt and former British Cycling medical director Dr. Steve Peters would be called as witnesses.

Before the prosecution could begin its case, O'Rourke announced that he would ask the GMC to make a section 35A legal application to the British tabloid, the Daily Mail, to release the alleged documents related to Freeman's case.

O'Rourke claimed that a "witness statement or affidavit" signed by Sutton was provided to the newspaper as "insurance against defamation claims" by Bradley Wiggins, Dave Brailsford, and Freeman. Sutton was a close friend and mentor to Wiggins in his quest for the Tour de France. Brailsford is the head of British Cycling's performance program and team manager for Team Ineos, which replaced Team Sky in the spring.

The Daily Mail will send the documents to the GMC within 14 days of receiving the application.

O'Rourke said the document is relevant to Freeman's case because it "contains many lies" and is "inconsistent" with Sutton's subsequent evidence to the UK Parliament's Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) Select Committee report published in 2018 He suggested.

That report stated in its final report that Team Sky "crossed an ethical line" by using the legal protection of parliamentary privilege: "We believe that Team Sky used drugs within the rules of WADA to enhance athlete performance, as well as to treat medical needs. We believe that they were using the drugs to improve the performance of the athletes."

Wiggins and Team Sky have always denied any allegations of wrongdoing.

The hearing will run through December 20.