Tour de France winner Chris Froome in doping shock after failed test during Vuelta
Cycling’s governing body asks Team Sky rider to provide more information after testing positive for twice the permitted level of legal asthma drug
Four-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome failed a doping test during the Vuelta a Espana race in September, cycling’s governing body the UCI said on Wednesday.
The British Team Sky rider had twice the permitted level of legal asthma drug Salbutamol in his body.
The UCI has asked Froome to provide more information but has not suspended him.
Team Sky said Froome had suffered from asthma since childhood and had been affected by symptoms during the Vuelta a Espana, the Tour of Spain, which he went on to win.
But the team said he had taken no more than the allowable amount of Salbutamol.
“During the final week of the Vuelta, Chris experienced acute asthma symptoms,” read a statement. “On the advice of the Team Sky doctor, he used an increased dosage of Salbutamol [still within the permissible doses] in the run-up to the 7 September urine test.”
