[Other Sport] Chris Froome cleared over Vuelta drugs test - case dropped

[Bozza]

Well, well, well...

"Britain’s most successful road cyclist Chris Froome is fighting for his reputation after returning a failed drugs test during his victory in the Vuelta in September, a joint investigation by the Guardian and Le Monde can reveal.

Froome, who also won his fourth Tour de France in July, was found to have exceeded the permitted levels of the asthma drug salbutamol on a test taken on 20 September. Under World Anti-Doping Agency rules, riders are allowed a level of 1,000 nanograms per millilitre. However, the 32-year-old was found to have twice that in a urine sample taken during the Tour of Spain."

....

Froome said: “It is well known that I have asthma and I know exactly what the rules are. I use an inhaler to manage my symptoms (always within the permissible limits) and I know for sure that I will be tested every day I wear the race leader’s jersey.

“My asthma got worse at the Vuelta so I followed the team doctor’s advice to increase my salbutamol dosage. As always, I took the greatest care to ensure that I did not use more than the permissible dose.

“I take my leadership position in my sport very seriously. The UCI is absolutely right to examine test results and, together with the team, I will provide whatever information it requires.”

More >>> https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/dec/13/chris-froome-team-sky-reputation-abnormal-drug-test

 

[Hillian1]

Christ alive these cyclists we have in this country are SUPERHUMAN.

Now Froome comes out as an Asthma sufferer as well as Wiggins.

Doffs cap.

 

[Surf's Up]

It is amazing how top cyclistas seem to suffer from asthma

 

[Kalimantan Gull]

To be fair there is a LOT of asthma in sport

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-42264758

Professional footballers should be screened for exercise-induced asthma, researchers say, after a study found three in 10 could be affected.

University of Kent scientists used lung tests to identify players with symptoms and improved their fitness after treatment.

Elite athletes are known to be prone to asthma-related problems because of their high-intensity breathing.

 

[Driver8]

I can’t say that taking a puff of ventolin has ever enhanced my performance.

 

[Jim D]

There's currently a lot of research on exercise induced asthma. It seems that a lot of footballers suffer from it.

 

[Notters]

I can’t say that taking a puff of ventolin has ever enhanced my performance.

I think this is the key point. It was restricted some time ago as it could potentially enhance performance, but has now been shown not to.

https://www.outsideonline.com/1783866/will-inhaler-enhance-my-performance

 

[Bold Seagull]

It is amazing how top cyclistas seem to suffer from asthma

Out on their bikes, training on the roads everyday from a young age, hardly need to be a scientist to work out a possible link.

 

[Hillian1]

I think this is the key point. It was restricted some time ago as it could potentially enhance performance, but has now been shown not to.

https://www.outsideonline.com/1783866/will-inhaler-enhance-my-performance

Salbutamol, which is what he was found to have in his system, is used to mask the appearance of PED's I have read this morning.

With this in mind, I would like to announce the Froome is now Kenyan again.

 

[Dave the OAP]

people are desperate for him to be a druggie....

you just have to see the lack of support he gets in the press....A lot of people regard him as a plastic brit and not the "lad" wiggins ( apart from the fact he probably did more to haul wiggins around the mountains in France to lead him to win the TDF )

 

[vegster]

The guy has been flouting the rules for years, all this time and he's never had lights on his bike.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

The guy has been flouting the rules for years, all this time and he's never had lights on his bike.

Doesn’t pay road tax either.

 

[KZNSeagull]

The guy has been flouting the rules for years, all this time and he's never had lights on his bike.

Hasn't he passed his cycling proficiency test?

 

[portlock seagull]

people are desperate for him to be a druggie....

you just have to see the lack of support he gets in the press....A lot of people regard him as a plastic brit and not the "lad" wiggins ( apart from the fact he probably did more to haul wiggins around the mountains in France to lead him to win the TDF )

Blokes not British, doesn’t train here nor grew up oh and now is suspected of taking drugs. It’s amazing the British public aren’t fawning over him isn’t it?! That and the ‘sport’ he’s in is rife with...yes, can’t understand why!

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Be interested to know how the detected levels of salbutamol translates into puffs from a bog standard asthma inhaler. Which is normally how salbutamol is delivered. It's a tricky one. Asthma can be triggered by pollution, pollen, cold air etc. i.e. many of the things Froome would have encountered during the course of his daily job. Salbutamol opens up the airways to allow for intake of improved levels of oxygen. Tho I'd imagine to no more than the point of somebody who doesn't have asthma. Are we really saying asthmatics shouldn't be allowed to partake in professional sport? Sounds harsh.

 

[Bold Seagull]

Blokes not British, doesn’t train here nor grew up oh and now is suspected of taking drugs. It’s amazing the British public aren’t fawning over him isn’t it?! That and the ‘sport’ he’s in is rife with...yes, can’t understand why!

He's probably more British than the blood lines of our monarchy, both parents being actually British!

 

[Brovion]

Christ alive these cyclists we have in this country are SUPERHUMAN.

Now Froome comes out as an Asthma sufferer as well as Wiggins.

Doffs cap.

Indeed. My sister suffers from Asthma. I'll tell her with the right meds she can be a top cyclist as opposed to someone who struggles to climb a flight of stairs.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

Whenever the British have a sporting 'hero', we can't wait to see them fail in some way. Build them up and knock them down.

 

[Bold Seagull]

Whenever the British have a sporting 'hero', we can't wait to see them fail in some way. Build them up and knock them down.

It's perhaps not fair on Froome, or Wiggins for that matter but Sky had it coming through being so arrogant as to say they were going to be zero tolerant and set standards above and beyond all other cycling teams, then in that heightened environment with everyone on tenderhooks about doping, stating you're the cleanest ever team with the biggest budget for that matter, you allow a medical package to turn up unaccounted for, without the correct documentation. Unbelievable really. They built themselves up and to be honest, knocked themselves down.

Wiggins package probably was an allowed TUE, and Froome was probably medically advised to take his inhaler (a legal substance), but you can't dress yourself all in white and expect to eat an egg and bacon sandwich with tomato sauce without getting any down you.

 

[Hillian1]

Whenever the British have a sporting 'hero', we can't wait to see them fail in some way. Build them up and knock them down.

Diego Ulissi got a nine-month ban for 1920ng/ml in 2014.

Petacchi got a year for 1320ng/ml in 2007.