In an interview with Telegraph Sport on Tuesday he repeated that claim. “This happened what, 10 years ago?” Ratcliffe said. “My principal concern is where we are now and how we conduct ourselves now. I was very clear, right from the beginning, that if there was ever any sense of that going on in our team, I'd walk away from it immediately. And nothing's changed in that regard. In my opinion you haven’t accomplished anything if you’ve done it by cheating. There’s no honour in that."
Ratcliffe said he had not spoken to Brailsford since the ruling, but insisted that he retained his full backing. “We’ve all got antenna haven’t we?” he said. “And your antenna starts pinging if you’re uncomfortable about something. My antenna doesn't start pinging away when I'm chatting today to Dave. Quite the opposite.
"I also know the riders. I know Chris Froome, I know Egan [Bernal] and Geraint [Thomas]. I’d be astonished if there’s any of that going on.
“I like Dave. I think he's a very straightforward northerner. I think he's accomplished a lot. A bit like Toto [Wolff] has with Mercedes F1. There’s no accident that these guys are successful. When I look at how meticulous Dave is. The marginal gains stuff isn't fiction. He is a workaholic. I mean, he is present at the [races] for 220 days a year in his caravan, you know? I mean, that's utter dedication. To the detriment of his own health and family life. So that’s the side of Dave I see.”
Ratcliffe added: “He has my full support. Unless something came up that I was shocked by, he will continue to have my full support.
“It comes back to this debate we had when we first took over. Cycling has a mixed history, a reputation. But assuming it's now clean as a sport, you shouldn't consign it to the dustbin, should you? Like athletics, or football, it’s a fantastic sport and that’s why, ultimately, we decided to support it.”