Tour de France champion Chris Froome dismissed media reports stating that the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) had not accepted his evidence and arguments against an adverse analytical finding for salbutamol after last year’s Vuelta a Espana.
According to French newspaper Le Monde, the governing body had not accepted his explanation and referred the case to an anti-doping tribunal, but Froome tweeted last night that it was “fake news” doing the rounds.
There are concerns in the cycling industry about the time the case is taking to be finalised and that the British rider might start this year’s Tour under a cloud.
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Italian rider Vincenzo Nibali, who placed second overall in last year’s Vuelta and won this year’s Milan-San Remo, told Cycling Weekly earlier this year that the saga was “bad news” for the sport and advised Froome to postpone his season until it was concluded.
Froome hit the headlines at the end of last year when his urine sample taken after stage 18 of the Spanish grand tour showed double the legal amount of salbutamol, a substance contained in his asthma medication.
The four-time Tour de France winner said afterwards it was well known that he had asthma and that he knew exactly what the rules were.
“I use an inhaler to manage my symptoms and I know for sure that I will be tested every day I wear the race leader’s jersey,” he said in a statement released by Team Sky at the time.
His tweet, which was published at 9.11pm yesterday, read: “Fake news making the rounds again this evening. What journalists and publications won’t do for a couple of clicks . . .”
The tweet has since been deleted.
