Froome to start season in Spain race

CHRIS Froome returns to competition today in Spain’s Ruta del Sol, but he will be riding under a cloud after the revelation in December of an abnormal doping result.

Froome has the right to ride because salbutamol, the substance that showed up in the test, is an anti-asthma drug which can be taken legally and so does not lead to an automatic ban.

Cycling’s international governing body (UCI) still has to make a ruling on the case and has asked Froome to explain why twice the allowed limit showed up in his sample. But the reaction of other riders suggests that the presence of the fourtime Tour de France winner in the five-day race through Andalusia may provoke some resentment in the peloton.

UCI chief David Lappartient said last month that Froome should be suspended over the adverse test and some of the rider’s main rivals have hit out at cycling authorities for failing to ban him.

Despite the criticism, Froome, who has not raced since September, is preparing to start his 2018 season in the same country where he returned the controversial test on September 7 as he headed for victory in the Spanish Vuelta.