Cycling: Mauro Vegni, race organizer of the Giro d'Italia, has commented again on Chris Froome (Sky). A few days ago he gave the UCI an ultimatum. Now he says he can't ban Chris Froome from starting the Tour of Italy. He also welcomes the British. Should Froome win the Giro d'Italia and be subsequently suspended, Vegni would still not remove him from the list of winners.
Vegni cannot stop Froome from starting
Just a few days ago, most cycling fans would have signed Mauro Vegni's statements. The Giro boss gave the UCI an ultimatum. Vegni demanded that the decision in the Chris Froome case had to be made before the start of the Giro d'Italia. With his current statements to Cyclingnews, his attitude on this subject is put into perspective.
“If Froome can start at the Giro d'Italia, then he can start. I can't stop him or I would violate his rights. He is welcome at the Tour of Italy. If he then wins the pink jersey, he will always be the winner for me - even if he is suspended and if his results are annulled. I will not remove a rider's name from the Giro d'Italia roll of honor and then present the trophy and pink jersey to another rider a year later, as we had to do in the Contador case.”
“It should have been clarified four months ago”
Mauro Vegni is absolutely in agreement with most cycling fans in terms of the duration of the topic. He also doesn't understand why Team Sky and Chris Froome can take so much time to provide any justifications. In his opinion, however, it is not the responsibility of the race organizers, but of the UCI.
“The problem is the time it takes for the case. Five months have passed and we are still waiting on whether certain expert evidence is admissible or not. It should have been cleared up four months ago. If there is a doping case in a race, the driver should lose his results and be banned. It can't last a year. If this sport is to be credible, we need to have a clear policy on when a ban starts and a rider has to fulfill their time. Everything else is pointless. It shouldn't be up to the drivers, teams or race organizers to speak up and find a solution. It is up to the international umbrella organization to make the right decisions.”
Vegni: I can't stop Chris Froome racing the Giro d'Italia – 'If he wins the pink jersey, he'll always be the winner for me' says race organizer https://t.co/GKhVgU9sg2 pic.twitter.com/BDmoK1OFZQ
— Cyclingnews.com (@Cyclingnewsfeed) 7. February 2018
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