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Are the ASO and UCI heading towards a showdown regarding Chris Froome?

Report suggests Tour de France may exclude Froome if salbutamol case not resolved

March 21, 2018
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According to The Guardian, Amaury Sport Organization (ASO) may exclude Chris Froome from the Tour de France if the four-time yellow jersey winner’s salbutamol case is not resolved before July.

Tour organizers have the power to exercise discretion over who can race their Grand Tour in order to safeguard its image. On the eve of the 2006 Tour, race officials banned nine riders, including Jan Ullrich, Ivan Basso and Alberto Contador, from participating based on allegations of doping from the Spanish police in the Operación Puerto investigation.

Earlier this month Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme told RCM sport that he was frustrated with the lack of a verdict in the Froome case, which came to light in December. The positive samples were collected on September 7 and Froome was informed of the adverse analytical finding on September 20, the same day he earned a time trial bronze in the Bergen, Norway world championships.

In Geneva, Switzerland, Wednesday to introduce a new mobile X-ray cabinet created to scan bikes for mechanical doping, UCI president David Lappartient said of the Froome case, “I think it’s the job of the UCI to deal with this matter, it’s not up to the organizers.” In January, Lappartient told Le Télégramme, “Sky should suspend Froome. However, it is not up to me to interfere. Without going into the question of guilt, it would be simpler for everyone.” Froome complained to Cyclingnews that Lappartient should voice his concerns to Froome in person and not in the media.

As La Flamme Rouge pointed out, ASO has the right to exclude a rider, but UCI can appeal that decision.

In 2016, when the UCI was headed by Brian Cookson, cycling’s governing body reached an agreement with the ASO over reforms to the WorldTour when the ASO threatened to withdraw its races–the Tour de France, the Vuelta a Espana, Paris-Nice, Paris-Roubaix and Liege-Bastogne-Liege among them–from the 2017 WorldTour calendar.

Meanwhile, Froome continues to prepare for his first Giro d’Italia since 2010, his next step being the 2.HC-rated Tour of the Alps starting April 16. Giro organizer Mauro Vegni claims he is powerless to stop Froome from racing the first Grand Tour of the year. At Milan-San Remo on Saturday Lappartient admitted to La Gazzetta dello Sport that Froome’s case is unlikely to be resolved before the first stage of the Giro May 4 in Jerusalem, Israel.