Former UCI President Cookson was aware of Froome’s salbutamol test
BRIAN COOKSON was made aware of four-time Tour de France champion Chris Froome’s adverse analytical finding in his final hours in office as head of cycling’s governing body.
Froome is under scrutiny after a test during his La Vuelta win in September showed elevated levels of the asthma drug salbutamol, which could result in an anti-doping rule violation and a ban.
Cookson, then the UCI president, lost his bid for reelection to France’s David Lappartient who won the vote on September 21. A former member of Team Sky’s supervisory board, on Thursday he said he had ‘no role or influence’ in how Froome’s case, or that of any other rider, had been handled.
Yesterday, however, he issued a further statement, which read: ‘I was informed that Chris Froome had provided an A sample with an anomalous result for a substance that did not result in an immediate provisional suspension the last 24 hours of my tenure at UCI.
‘When I left the UCI the following day, the matter passed to the new president and, rightly, I was no longer informed about the matter.
‘I cannot comment further on this or any other ongoing case.’
Cookson had said Froome’s adverse analytical finding was a matter for the independent CADF (Cycling Anti-Doping Foundation) and the Legal Anti-Doping Service supervised by an external lawyer.
His statement on Thursday added: ‘As UCI president, I therefore had no role or influence in any individual case.
‘I had then, and still have today, confidence in the integrity of all those involved, that they would always follow the correct procedures in every case, and that no rider was treated in any way differently from any other.’
Froome had double the permitted level of salbutamol in a urine test taking during his victory in La Vuelta, the Tour of Spain.
The result is not automatically classified as a positive test and the 32-year-old has not been suspended, but he must provide a satisfactory explanation.
News of Froome’s adverse test came soon after the inconclusive investigation into the contents of the mystery medical package delivered to Bradley Wiggins at a race in 2011, and revelations over Wiggins’ use of therapeutic use exemptions before major races, including his 2012 Tour de France win.
Cookson defended Team Sky and Wiggins after the UK Anti-Doping investigation ended without charges, saying their reputations should be ‘reinstated’.