Cycling: UCI boss advocates Froome suspension by Sky

UCI President David Lappartient has spoken out in the Salbutamol affair over the four-time Tour de France winner Christopher Froome in favour of a temporary suspension of the Briton by his Sky team.”Sky should do that. It’s not my job to interfere in this case. I don’t want to assess the fault of the driver either, but it would be easier for everyone involved,”said the head of the World Cycling Federation of the French regional newspaper Le Telegrams.

It would be up to Sky team boss David Brailsford to live up to his responsibilities “Apart from that, I think the other riders in the field would like to do so. They are annoyed about the image that emerges,”said Lappartient.

According to Lappartient, the clarification of the affair could come to a halt:”The topic will not be finished in two minutes. It could take up to a year,”he said in view of possible legal disputes. In a recent interview with the Neue Zürcher Zeitung, the 44-year-old had explained that, as far as possible, before the start of the Giro d’ Italia on 4 January, he would have to wait until the end of March. May in Jerusalem.

In mid-December it became known that Froome had been positively tested in a doping test during his Vuelta triumph in September. A 32-year-old urine specimen showed an excessive concentration of the asthma drug salbutamol.

Since the ingestion of the substance is permitted up to a limit value, Froome has the possibility of explaining the double the increased measurement value according to UCI regulations. Froome is allowed to continue racing until the matter has been clarified, a ban was not imposed.