A medical tribunal to hear a case against former British Cycling and Team Sky doctor Richard Freeman has been adjourned until later in the year following 20 days of legal rows ©BBC

British Cycling has claimed it is "extremely disappointed" that the medical tribunal of its former doctor Richard Freeman has been adjourned after 20 days of preliminary argument.

It was supposed to start on February 6 but lawyers have spent the last four weeks debating two preliminary applications from Freeman's barrister Mary O'Rourke in private.

The tribunal delivered a decision on the second of those applications today, the last of the hearing's scheduled days at the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) headquarters in Manchester, but it will not be made public and the tribunal will now be relisted for later this year.

In a short statement, the MPTS said: "We believe it is in the public interest, and the interest of everybody involved in a case, for hearings to be completed as quickly as possible.

"We will be working with the parties to relist this hearing at the earliest opportunity."

Freeman, who also worked for Team Sky, is facing several misconduct charges, but the most serious is related to a delivery of testosterone, a drug banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency, to the National Cycling Centre in May 2011, which he then allegedly tried to cover-up.

Former British Cycling and Team Sky doctor Richard Freeman has refused to answer questions at Parliamentary hearings, medical tribunals and from the media about allegations he ordered banned drugs ©Twitter
Former British Cycling and Team Sky doctor Richard Freeman has refused to answer questions at Parliamentary hearings, medical tribunals and from the media about allegations he ordered banned drugs ©Twitter

It is alleged by the General Medical Council that Freeman obtained the 30 sachets of Testogel "to administer to an athlete to improve their athletic performance".

Freeman has denied all wrongdoing but he resigned from British Cycling in October 2017 rather than face disciplinary action for poor record-keeping related to a different controversial delivery in June 2011, the so-called "Jiffy bag" scandal.

He also failed to appear before a Parliamentary inquiry into that mysterious package in December 2016 and did not show up to give evidence on behalf of former British track sprinter Jess Varnish at her employment tribunal in December last year.

"It is in the public interest and in the best interests of the sport that the allegations against Dr Richard Freeman are heard and examined openly by the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service," British Cycling said in a statement. 

"We are therefore extremely disappointed that the hearing has been adjourned.

"British Cycling is a co-referrer in this case and we will continue to support the General Medical Council's work as there remain historic questions to be answered."