The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
‘Angry’ rival wants Froome suspended
Cycling: artttsh competttor ann hts team enjoy ‘spectal status, says Marttn
Four-time world time trial champion Tony Martin has called the decision not to suspend Team Sky leader Chris Froome immediately for his adverse drugs test a “scandal”.
In a post on his Facebook page, the 32-year-old German wrote he was “totally angry” and suggested Froome and his British team “enjoy a special status”.
Froome came third in Bergen, winning a bronze medal that he said at the time “capped an amazing season”. Martin finished a disappointing ninth. In its letter to Froome and his national governing body, British Cycling, the UCI made it clear that he was not subject to a mandatory suspension.
One of the sport’s most respected riders, Martin wrote: “I am totally angry. There is definitely a double standard being applied in the Christopher Froome case.
“Other athletes are suspended immediately after a positive test. He and his team are given time by the UCI to explain it all. I do not know of any similar case in the recent past.
“That is a scandal, and he should at least not have been allowed to appear in the World Championships.
“Not only the public, but also I immediately have the impression that there is wheeling and dealing going on behind the scenes, agreements are
“I am totally angry. There is definitely a double standard being applied in the Christopher Froome case. TONY MARTIN
being made and ways are being sought as to how to get out of this case. Do he and his team enjoy a special status?”
In a test taken after the Vuelta’s 18th stage on September 7, Froome provided a urine sample with a concentration of the asthma drug salbutamol of 2,000 nanograms per millilitre (ng/ml), double the World Anti-doping Agency’s limit of 1,000 ng/ml.
Team Sky said in a statement on Wednesday that the 32-year-old British star experienced “acute asthma symptoms” during the final week of the Vuelta and increased his dosage of salbutamol, within permissible limits, on doctor’s advice.
It is understood that Froome, who had struggled the day before but returned to form on stage 18, took three extra puffs on his inhaler after the finish but before his test.
He and his team are now trying to build a scientific argument to explain how this unusual, but legal, dose translated to an illegal concentration of the drug in his sample.
If Froome fails to provide a satisfactory answer, the UCI could proceed with an anti-doping rule violation which could strip him of his victory at the Vuelta – the first by a British rider and half of a Tour de France/vuelta double only achieved twice before in cycling history – and result in him missing a large part of 2018.
Speaking to Sky Sports News HQ from a training camp in Majorca, the four-time Tour winner said: “This is damaging. It’s come as a huge shock to me as well.
“At the same time I know within me that fundamentally I have followed the protocol, I have not overstepped any boundaries and I hope by the end of this process that will be clear to everyone and I’ll be exonerated of any wrongdoing.”