Froome dope case may mar Tour

THE head of world cycling has said Chris Froome could pursue a fifth Tour de France victory this summer under the cloud of his long-running doping case. David Lappartient, the president of the UCI, has warned that Froome’s case may not be concluded before the Tour starts on July 7 because of legal complexities. The Team Sky rider failed a drugs test by having double the permitted level of the asthma drug salbutamol in his system at the Vuelta a Espana last September. Speaking to Cycling

News yesterday, Lappartient said: ‘I hope and call for a decision before the Tour for everybody, for his team, for the rider, for the UCI, for the fans and for the organiser. I don’t know if we’ll be able to have this before July.’ Simon Yates retained the overall lead of 56sec over defending champion Tom Dumoulin in the Giro d’Italia as Elia Viviani claimed his fourth stage win. Froome is fourth, 3min 50sec behind Yates.