FROOME FACES HIS BIGGEST BATTLE AND IT’S UPHILL ALL THE WAY
ON STAGE 17 of this year’s Vuelta a Espana, Chris Froome struggled up the Alto de los Machucos, a mountain with a 25 per cent gradient in some places, losing 42 seconds to his closest challenger Vincenzo Nibali. The following day, on stage 18, he was a changed man, making a magnificent late break on the road to Santo Toribio de Liebana, which extended his lead over Nibali to a minute and 37 seconds. That was on September 7, the day Froome recorded a positive test for increased levels of salbutamol. Team Sky will no doubt insist that this was in no way an attempt to cheat, as salbutamol through an inhaler has no performanceenhancing effects. Yet, day to day, stage to stage, Froome’s performance greatly improved. Indeed, his performance on September 7 is widely considered to be the game-changer in winning the Vuelta — the first time a rider has scooped that, and the Tour de France, in the same year since 1978. So scepticism is understandable, no matter Team Sky’s protests. For whatever reason, Froome got better on the day he tested positive. If he thought he had an uphill climb then, it is nothing compared to the one he faces restoring his credibility now.