Chris Froome has just been cleared of any wrongdoing and his salbutamol doping case is closed.
Chris Froome cleared in salbutamol doping case
The UCI, the world governing body of cycling, has said Chris Froome is cleared of any wrongdoing in his salbutamol case.
The news comes just two days after it emerged the Tour de France told Froome he could not ride the race because the adverse test result from the Vuelta was still unresolved.
But in a statement this morning the UCI said Chris Froome is cleared of any doping offence. And the case against him is closed.
“The UCI has considered all the relevant evidence in detail (in consultation with its own experts and experts from Wada),” the UCI statement said.
“On 28 June 2018, Wada informed the UCI that it would accept, based on the specific facts of the case, that Mr Froome’s sample results do not constitute an AAF.
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“In light of Wada’s unparalleled access to information and authorship of the salbutamol regime, the UCI has decided, based on Wada’s position, to close the proceedings against Mr Froome.
“Whilst the UCI would have obviously preferred the proceedings to have been finalised earlier in the season, it had to ensure that Mr Froome had a fair process, as it would have done with any other rider, and that the correct decision was issued.
“Having received Wada’s position on 28 June 2018, the UCI prepared and issued its formal reasoned decision as quickly as possible in the circumstances.”
Froome tweeted: “Grateful and relieved to finally put this chapter behind me. It has been an emotional nine months.
"Thank you to all of those who have supported and believed in me throughout.”
Botched handling of case
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In what can only be described as a disastrous handling of the case, the UCI did not release its decision until after the Tour and its owners ASO had moved against Froome.
The Tour organisers sent an email to Team Sky in recent days stating Froome was not allowed to ride. Team Sky had already begun an appeal, with a hearing scheduled for Tuesday.
Yet it has now emerged the UCI knew Froome was cleared on June 28th, days before the Tour sent the email to Team Sky.
But the UCI had apparently not shared the information with anyone, waiting five days before releasing a statement.
“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,” French newspaper Le Monde had reported when breaking the story of his attempted blocking from the race.
Under article 28 of its own rules, ASO and the Tour can block a rider whose participation it believes would damage the event.
Under the article the race “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”.
Froome returned his adverse sample towards the end of the Vuelta, which he won. He was informed, confidentially as per the rules, his test was problematic in late September.
However, he opted to ride the Worlds anyway, winning bronze in the TT. And he has continued to race this season, winning the Giro in May.
Because salbutamol is allowed to certain levels, his adverse test result from the Vuelta was not an automatic doping offence that carried a suspension.
Instead, the rider and his team had an unlimited amount of time to prove there was an innocent explanation for his heightened levels of salbutamol.
And while that process was continuing, he was permitted to race. But the Tour and ASO did not want him in the race under those conditions.
Rather than suggesting Froome was guilty of any offence, the Tour wanted to block him on the grounds it may get dragged into the Froome doping controversy.
For example, if Froome had won the race or even won stages and then was subsequently banned and lost those results; the Tour would need to go back and correct those results.
It would need to award the 2018 title to another rider if Froome had won it and later been suspended and/or lost results.
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