The decision by Team Sky to return Chris Froome to racing next week is bringing his adverse dope test result to a head. Cyrille Guimard predicts it will be a disaster for everyone; Froome included.
Cyrille Guimard attacks Chris Froome and Team Sky
A managerial legend, not to mention a top rider in his day, Cyrille Guimard has launched a strong attack on Chris Froome and Team Sky.
The 71-year-old spoke to French newspaper L’Equipe about Froome starting next week’s Ruta del Sol.
Last year’s Tour de France winner and current Vuelta champion, Froome returned an adverse dope test sample at the latter last year.
His levels of asthma drug Salbutamol were twice the legally permitted limit.
In such cases, where some level of the substance found is permitted, an automatic ban does not apply.
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Instead, riders and their teams are asked by the UCI for more information. They are effectively given the opportunity to outline how the test result may have come about legitimately.
Froome and Team Sky are currently working to furnish such an explanation.
But many in the sport, including the UCI president, believe Team Sky should withdraw Froome from racing until the matter is resolved either way.
The rider and team have ignored those calls, insisting Froome is innocent and has the right to race on.
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And in that vein, Froome has said he will start his 2018 campaign at the Ruta del Sol next week.
Cyrille Guimard believes it is a self-absorbed decision with no thought for cycling’s image.
He said they were “playing with the rules” in a provocative and cynical way.
"Froome and his team are putting one over on us,” he told the newspaper. "The act of riding the Ruta del Sol is an act of self-importance.
“They absolutely don't care about the disastrous image that they are presenting of cycling.”
He believes Team Sky want to draw out the case because the longer it goes on the greater the chance of a loophole emerging that would clear Froome.
“Sky are in the process of putting a well-oiled communication system in place. But nobody should be fooled," he said.
He also believed Froome’s decision to race would come with a heavy price.
"Chris Froome is going to become a media star at the Ruta del Sol and, in time, a victim,” he said.
"The cameras of the world will be there. He will never have had so much publicity.
“This is the part of it that shocks me the most. They are making Froome a star on the roads of the Ruta del Sol; it’s scandalous.
"The other riders perhaps have the key to the problem. They could refuse to ride alongside him. Or refuse anti-doping controls until the affair is resolved."
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