CLOUD AND CLEAR

Froome free to strive for Five, but knows that damage has been done

CHRIS FROOME admits he can understand why the Tour de France organisers tried to ban him from defending the Yellow Jersey here on Saturday.

And as Britain’s four-time champion held court in a tiny village municipal sports hall, he conceded his reputation was damaged by his salbutamol case – even though he was cleared of any wrongdoing earlier this week.

Thunder breaking overhead, Froome and Team Sky (right) looked ready to rumble when the 105th edition of cycling’s monument to torture begins on the west coast of France this weekend.

But Froome, 33, was only cleared to sign on by global antidoping watchdogs WADA on Monday after the race organisers had threatened to veto his participation while his drug test controversy remained unresolved.

Le Tour’s top brass claimed Froome’s presence would have damaged the race’s image if he competed under a cloud.

The Amaury Sport Organisation only backed down, and fell into line, when WADA and world governing body UCI accepted the Team Sky rider was not to blame for a rogue sample containing excess asthma medication salbutamol in his system last September. Froome admitted: “I can understand the decisions they took.

“But I’m certainly happier to be riding the Tour rather than not being involved.

“Of course the last nine months have been challenging and of course it has been damaging – but as things stand right now, I’m happy to draw a line in the sand and focus on bike racing again.”

Froome (above) had been keeping a low profile while his ‘adverse analytical finding’ was sorted out by scientists.

And seldom, if ever, has a decorated champion of his craft been paraded in a such an incongruous setting as a spartan gym in the nondescript village of Saint-Mars-laReorthe.

But for Team Sky, who have been under siege for two years with Russian hackers Fancy Bears, anonymous whistleblowers and grandstanding politicians taking pot shots at their ethics, Froome’s exoneration felt like a moment where they stemmed the tide.

For now, his only concern is whether his heavily-pregnant wife Michelle – who is expecting their second child – goes into labour before the peloton reaches Paris on July 29.

But Team Sky principal Sir Dave Brailsford, never quite straying into the realm of smugness, felt entitled to preach justice here last night.

He said: “When someone is accused of something they haven’t done, and it is leaked into the public domain, it is only right to stand up and challenge it.

“The ASO can speak for themselves, but WADA have to ensure that clean athletes are treated fairly so they can catch the cheats.”