Sky confident of beating Tour bid to bar Froome
Race organisers refused his entry, claims report Decision expected soon on British rider’s case
Team Sky are extremely confident Chris Froome will be on the start line of the Tour de France on Saturday, despite a stunning late attempt by ASO, the Tour organisers, to block the four-time winner from competing.
A report in Le Monde yesterday claimed that ASO had refused to accept the British rider’s entry due to his ongoing salbutamol case.
It added that Team Sky would appeal to the French National Olympic and Sports Committee at a hearing tomorrow, with a result expected the following day, just three days before the start in the Vendee on Saturday.
However, the noises coming from the Sky camp yesterday were extremely bullish. “We are confident that Chris will be riding the Tour as we know he has done nothing wrong,” said a spokesperson yesterday. Froome’s wife, Michelle, added: “Chris will ride the Tour.”
It is unclear whether their confidence stems from a breakthrough in the case itself, which could be relayed to the public shortly, or simply that they have been given assurances by the Union Cycliste Internationale president, David Lappartient, to the effect that Froome can ride.
Lappartient said yesterday that he would make the UCI’S “general position” clear very shortly.
“I have always said we would make known the general position of the UCI before the Tour and that will be the case,” Lappartient said. “So we shall explain our position during the coming week.”
Froome is fighting to clear his name after returning an adverse analytical finding for the asthma drug salbutamol at last year’s Vuelta a Espana, which he won. Salbutamol is a specified substance rather than a banned substance, meaning a rider is allowed to take it, although only up to a threshold of 1000 ng/ml.
The 33-year-old vehemently denies any wrongdoing and said last week that, while he understood it was a sensitive issue, he had done nothing wrong and therefore had “every right” to ride the Tour.
Froome’s lawyers have reportedly sought to argue that Wthe World Anti-doping Agency test for salbutamol is unreliable and needs to be overhauled.
Under UCI regulations, Froome is allowed to continue racing pending resolution of his case. However, his situation has been made problematic by the fact that what was meant to be a confidential process leaked into the public domain last December. That has meant that Froome has had to face the court of public opinion, an arena which has been heavily influenced by current and ex-professionals weighing in with their opinions.
Froome’s major rival for May’s Giro d’italia, Sunweb’s Tom Dumoulin, made clear before the start of that race that he was unhappy with the length of time it was taking to reach a verdict and pointed out that, if it was him, he would not have been on the start line in Jerusalem as his team was a member of the Movement for Credible Cycling.
More recently, five-time Tour champion Bernard Hinault called for Froome’s fellow riders to strike if the Briton raced at the Tour.
ASO is citing article 28 of its rules, which “expressly reserves the right to refuse participation in – or to exclude from – the event, a team or any of its members whose presence would be such as to damage the image or reputation of ASO or the event”.
The Le Monde report added: “The Tour de France wants at all costs to avoid being in the same situation as the recent Giro d’italia, where the final victory of Froome is now marked with an asterisk.”
ASO’S 11th hour attempt to block his participation may accelerate the disciplinary process.
If Froome does end up riding, he can expect what was already likely to be a hostile reception in France to be even more febrile. In recent years Sky’s riders have been punched and spat at, while Froome had urine thrown at him in 2015.