Defiant Froome gets back on his bike

CHRIS FROOME has protested at the “misinformation” that has surrounded his adverse drug test result and insisted again that he will be able to prove his innocence.

The four-time Tour de France winner has ignored calls not to race until the case is closed.

Yesterday he set off from the start line of the five-day Ruta del Sol in Spain.

“I know that I haven’t done anything wrong and I intend that,” he said.

Froome and Team Sky insist they are right to race on despite calls from David Lappartient, president of the sport’s governing body, the UCI, for him to ‘suspend’ himself.

In December it emerged Froome had returned an adverse to show analytical finding for salbutamol in the final week of last year’s Vuelta a Espana, which he won.

Salbutamol is considered a ‘specified substance’, which means that Froome can race while his case is resolved.

But he risks losing any results he achieves if he fails to explain the high level of salbutamol in his system and is found guilty of an anti-doping violation. Froome said yesterday: “There’s a lot of misinformation out there and also a lot of people who don’t necessarily understand the process that’s in place.

“I do believe that when all the facts are out there, people will see it from my point of view.”

At yesterday’s start in Mijas, a town popular with British tourists, Froome received cheers of support as he rode to the start line. He finished safely in the main peloton in Granada on a day when the sprinters took control of the hilly 190km stage.

France’s Thomas Boudat won the bunch sprint.

Today’s stage to the Alto de Allanadas summit finish may well prove more to Froome’s liking – the Briton won there in 2015, en route to overall victory.