In the world of modern professional cycling, thanks to the questionable antics of some riders (past and present), any issue remotely relating to drugs of any sort immediately dominates the headlines.
Such was the case last week, when four-time Tour de France champion Chris Froome was found to have returned a positive test during his Veulta a España victory this year.
Froome has won four Tour de France titles
Froome is a well known to have suffered from asthma since childhood, and uses an inhaler when he requires it. He is by far not the only high-profile athlete to do so – Manchester United and England great Paul Scholes kept an inhaler on the touchline in case of an attack.
Modern inhalers contain a drug called Sambutamol, and it is this which has caused Froome an issue. Although it’s not thought to have any performance-enhancing qualities, the permitted limit for athletes is 1,000 nanogrammes per millilitre of urine (ng/ml).
As race leader, Froome was tested after every stage of his victorious march to the Vuelta title, and in 20 of those tests, his sample was well below the permitted limit. However, on one occasion, after Stage 18 of the race, his sample returned at 2,000 ng/ml – double the allowed dosage.
The rider himself has admitted that his doctor told him to increase the amount of Sambutamol in his inhaler after his asthma attacks became more severe, but insists he has no idea why there was such a spike in the figures on that particular day.
Wiggins has also been criticised in the past
Both Froome and his employer, Team Sky, have vowed to get to the bottom of the issue but for the team in particular the news is most unwelcome, given they have recently come under intense scrutiny for its use of Therapeutic Use Exemptions (TUEs) with 2012 Tour winner Bradley Wiggins. The last thing boss Dave Brailsford needed was another potential scandal.
Froome is currently allowed to continue competing because he has a valid reason for using Sambutamol, but long-time rival and champion time-trialist Tony Martin claimed the authorities were applying “double-standards” to the case and said he was angered by their handling of the situation, before backtracking this week with an admission that the rules have not been broken.
Romain Bardet, who finished third as Froome took his third consecutive (and fourth in total) Tour de France title this year, also described the result as “bad news for cycling”, highlighting the suspicion among the professional peloton surrounding the case.
The sport’s governing body, the UCI, felt compelled to release a statement earlier this week clarifying its regulations after it also came under fire.
The MPCC, which pro teams can sign up for in order to promote drug-free cycling, a response to the scandalous days of the 1990s and early 2000s, has also called for Sky to ‘voluntarily suspend’ Froome in a press release.
Froome and Team Sky have made it clear that they feel confident of clearing the issue up and are in dialogue with the UCI. However, given so many remain confused, it seems that greater clarity is needed in order to prevent a situation such as this in the future.
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