MONTPELLIER, FRANCE - JULY 14: Christopher Froome of Great Britain riding for Team Sky in the yellow leader's jersey crosses the finish line after stage twelve, a 178km stage from Monpellier to Chalet-Reynard near the Mont Ventoux on July 14, 2016 in Montpellier, France. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images) Restrictions
On Monday, the International Cycling Union (UCI) cleared British cyclist Chris Froome of doping just days before this year’s Tour de France.
Froome, 33, is the defending Tour de France champion, and has won the 2,069-mile race four times. Should he win his fifth title this year, he would tie a record shared by Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, Jacques Anquetil, and Miguel Induráin. The 2018 Tour de France starts on Saturday.
The Brit had been threatened with a possible ban after he tested positive for the asthma drug salbutamol in September at the Vuelta a España. A urine sample revealed Froome had two times the legal amount, and the cyclist has denied any wrongdoing.
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In a surprising development, Team Sky — with whom Froome competes — said they would not be providing additional details on the doping case surrounding the cyclist.
“The Team won’t be putting out more information as it’s obviously a UCI/WADA process and it’s for them to decide what to put out and when. We don’t have access to their data and scientific studies,” a spokesperson for Team Sky told cyclingnews.com. “Chris had been out on his bike training all morning yesterday and wrongly assumed WADA would be putting out more detail when he said that to Sky News. We would of course be happy with them doing so but is ultimately for them to decide what they choose to do.”
A statement from the UCI stated the World Anti-Doping Agency had ruled that Froome’s sample did not include any violations, and thus it had decided to end its investigation into the cyclist.
According to the New York Times and several European publications, Tour de France organizers told Team Sky that Froome was prohibited from participating in the race until his doping case was decided.
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Two cyclists have previously received suspensions for using salbutamol: Diego Ulissi in 2014 and Alessandro Petacchi in 2007.
In May, Froome won his first Giro d’Italia.
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