SPORTS SHORTS

Froome faces tough questions after positive test

LONDON (Reuters) – Four-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome could potentially be stripped of his Vuelta a Espana title after a urine test he gave during the race in September showed excessive levels of an asthma medication.

The 32-year-old Briton, who rides for Team Sky, says he has done nothing wrong and would provide “whatever information” world cycling’s governing body UCI requires.

Froome became the first British rider to win the Vuelta and the first man to claim a Tour de France/Vuelta double in the same season since the Spanish race was moved to after the Tour. He is planning to compete in the Giro d’Italia in May, with the first three stages set to take place in Israel

Regarded as one of the greatest cyclists of all time, Froome has been on a shortlist of favorites to win this month’s BBC Sports Personality of the Year award for the first time.

His spectacular year is now under a cloud, however, and he and his Sky team will need to convince the UCI that there was nothing sinister about the amount of Salbutamol that showed up in his urine sample after Stage 18 on September 7.

Salbutamol is permitted as a legal asthma drug by the World Anti-Doping Agency, and the UCI said Froome’s failed urine test did not necessitate a mandatory provisional suspension.

But riders have been banned for excessive use of it in the past, notably Italian Alessandro Petacchi who was given a 12-month ban and stripped of his five stage victories in the 2007 Giro d’Italia.

The UCI said in a statement it had notified Froome on September 20 of an “Adverse Analytical Finding” from his sample, which had double the permissible limit of Salbutamol.

Team Sky issued a statement in which Froome said he had followed medical advice and taken an increased dosage of his medication after his asthma, a condition he has suffered with throughout his career, became worse during the race.

“As always, I took the greatest care to ensure that I did not use more than the permissible dose,” Froome said.

“I take my leadership position in my sport very seriously. The UCI is absolutely right to examine test results and, together with the team, I will provide whatever information it requires.”

Earlier this year Froome, who prides himself on racing clean, said he had refused a therapeutic use exemption to treat his asthma on the way to winning the 2015 Tour de France.

The UCI said analysis of the rider’s B sample from the Vuelta test had confirmed the results of the A sample and proceedings were being conducted in line with its anti-doping rules.

Sky said analysis of Froome’s sample showed the presence of the treatment at a concentration of 2,000 nanograms per milliliter (ng/ml), compared with the WADA threshold of 1,000ng/ml.

Team Sky said in a statement that the notification of the test finding did not mean any rule had been broken, saying there were a range of “complex medical and physiological issues” that could have led to the results.

England on the brink at WACA house of pain

MELBOURNE (Reuters) – England’s hopes of clawing its way back into an Ashes series fast slipping from its grip will be put to the ultimate test at the WACA, where the touring side has won only once in nearly 50 years.

The WACA bore witness to the meek surrender of the 2013/14 series by Alastair Cook’s England, and at 2-0 down after Brisbane and Adelaide, Joe Root’s men face a similar predicament when the third Test starts on Thursday.

With its traditionally quick and bouncy wicket playing to the strengths of home pacemen, the WACA has been a house of pain for English cricket and Australians will be hoping for more of the same when the ground hosts its final Test.

One has to delve deep in the records to even find the last time England drew a match. That was in 1986, when Mike Gatting’s unlikely band of hard-partying tourists put on 592 in the first innings to frustrate Allan Border’s team.

The maiden win was in 1978 when Mike Brearley’s side thrashed Graham Yallop-captained Australia by 166 runs, a victory that might otherwise have been remembered as a triumph of English cricket, but for the fact that the host team had been gutted by the World Series Cricket rebellion.

Australia has beaten England in their last seven matches at the WACA and with the host’s pacemen licking their lips, it may take something truly special from Joe Root’s men just to keep the series alive to the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne.

Managing that would be a victory of sorts, as England needs only to square the five-Test series at 2-2 to keep the coveted urn.

Having fought hard but ultimately crumbled at both the Gabba and the Adelaide Oval, England’s chances of rallying at the WACA have been given short shrift by bookmakers.

Several of Australia’s batsmen are under pressure, most notably Peter Handscomb, whose place could be taken by Mitchell Marsh, an all-rounder with a poor batting record at the Test level.

Anderson and the England seamers, meanwhile, will have enjoyed a boost of confidence from Adelaide, where Craig Overton provided much better support than Jake Ball at the Gabba.

More will be needed from the English batsmen, though, given none have managed a century this series.

Root and his most senior batsman Alastair Cook have been particularly culpable for failing to set the benchmark by converting promising starts into big scores.

Both were present for England’s last capitulation at the WACA and will be desperate to make a contribution to avoiding another.