Cycling: It's shocking news for the sport as a whole. Chris Froome - four-time Tour de France winner - has tested positive. This message only reached us today, on Wednesday December 13th. The Brit was caught on September 7th at the Vuelta a Espana. Which facts are already on the table and which questions are still open?
Froome tested positive for salbutamol
Chris Froome made history in 2017. In addition to the Tour de France in July, the Brit also won the Vuelta a Espana in September for the first time in his career. Did he achieve this historic triumph by illegal means? It was announced on Wednesday that Chris Froome had a positive doping test at the Tour of Spain. On September 7th, the urine of the 32-year-old could do that Asthma drug salbutamol to be determined. Nothing unusual in itself, because suffering professionals are allowed to use this drug up to a certain amount. But with Froome, on the day of 18st stage the limit of this asthma substance was clearly exceeded. According to Sky, 2000 nanograms per milliliter (ng/ml) were measured, but WADA only allows up to 1000 ng/ml. By the way: On the 18th stage, Froome fought back after a weak performance the day before and again took time from his strongest competitors.
NEWS: Chris Froome responding to UCI inquiries about asthma medication – https://t.co/9Ub0120NzH
— Team Sky (@TeamSky) 13 December 2017
No rule violation? Sky & Froome defend themselves
Of course, Chris Froome himself and his team Sky have already been informed about the positive test. Since the B sample was also positive, the four-time winner of the Tour de France will hardly be able to make an excuse. Froome and his employer already have an explanation ready. Because according to Sky, this positive doping test does not automatically mean that the applicable rules have been broken. team boss Dave brailsford defended his protégé, because there is "complex medical and physiological problems affecting the metabolism and excretion of salbutamol." Even Chris Froome has spoken out: “It is known that I have asthma and I know exactly what the rules are. I use an inhaler to manage my symptoms and I know that wearing the leader's jersey will test me every day." It is said that his asthma got worse during the Vuelta, so he had to increase the dose on the advice of his doctors: “I followed the advice of the team doctor to increase my salbutamol dosage. As always, I have taken great care not to use more than the permitted dose.”
Thank you for all the messages of support this morning. I am confident that we will get to the bottom of this. Unfortunately I can't share any more information than I already have until the inquiry is complete.
- Chris Froome (@chrisfroome) 13 December 2017
The organizers of the Vuelta are waiting
Due to the positive doping test during their tour, they are now also under pressure Organizers of the Vuelta a Espana. After all, they too decide how to deal with their winner's doping case. However, a hasty decision should not be made. Rather, the organizer is waiting for the conclusion of the UCI. "Regarding today's news of Christopher Froome's positive doping test during the Vuelta a Espana 2017, the organizer Unipublic would like to announce that they are awaiting the official conclusions of the UCI. The regulator has launched an investigation.” The UCI has not yet commented on the Froome doping case. As per current UCI rules, Team Sky has not yet suspended Froome. However, the Brit now has to explain how this increased value came about. Even if the team and its driver will now start looking for reasons and explanations, Chris Froome should not come out of this unscathed. The British face a ban of at least a year. A similar case happened in 2008. At that time, sprinter Alessandro Petacchi was suspended for twelve months.
I just want to point out that people get caught in cycling (big names too). How many sports can claim that? #frome
— Micah Schlemo (@MicahSchlemo) 13 December 2017
Footballers also under suspicion – who cares?
As with any doping case in cycling, most critics today see their biased opinions confirmed: cycling is not clean and there is no dirtier sport in the world. Despite all the excitement and absolutely justified criticism, the further investigations should first be awaited. It is also important to remember that the outcry in the media is only so great in cycling. However, the drug Salbutamol made headlines a few months ago – or maybe not. Just recently, the Russian hacker group "Fancy Bear" Documents released linking well-known footballers to this substance. Accordingly, four German professionals from the DFB are said to have received an exemption for taking salbutamol. The world association denied the rumors and condemned the publication of such documents. No further research was done - and the media was mostly silent. We experienced the same scenario with the Fuentes doping scandal, in which footballers, tennis players and other athletes were also involved. In fact, in the end only cycling was pursued. So the question arises whether more doping is really taking place in cycling, or whether the other sports associations are just simply doing it "different" deal with this topic. Perhaps this unanswered question is the most important one the sports world will have to answer in the years to come...
Sure, with Christopher #Froome is not surprising because he is a cyclist. But #Salbutamol is also taken by German national soccer players and when it was made public four months ago, the outcry wasn't that big: https://t.co/jwDcjbTI79 #Doping #DFB
— Sam (@s_a_m_9_1) 13 December 2017