FORMER SKY DOC QUERIES FROOME

CHRIS Froome returns to competition tomorrow with a former Team Sky doctor accusing his old employers of ‘losing touch with reality’. The four-time Tour de France winner will compete the Ruta del Sol in Spain, his first race since it emerged that twice the permitted dose of asthma drug salbutamol was found in his urine during last year’s Vuelta a Espana, which he won. The ‘adverse analytical finding’ is still being investigated. But Fabio Bartalucci, a Sky doctor for 18 months from the winter of 2010, has questioned Froome’s explanation. ‘It’s surprising that an athlete like Froome, who is so meticulous about everything can end up with a such a high level of salbutamol, the Italian said. ‘It’s equally surprising that the team doctor suggested increasing his dose of salbutamol as Froome has claimed. ‘It would have made a lot more sense to use triamcinolone via a Therapeutic Use Exemption request so that he could have had proper treatment.’ Froome insists he has done nothing wrong, while Team Sky declined to respond to Bartalucci’s comments.