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Leagues and Governing Bodies

UCI Clears Chris Froome To Compete In Tour De France

The Int'l Cycling Union (UCI) closed its anti-doping disciplinary case against Chris Froome, "clearing the way for the four-time champion to compete in this year's Tour de France," which begins on Saturday, according to Tom Cary of the London TELEGRAPH. In a "dramatic development," cycling's world governing body released a statement on Monday admitting it received information from WADA last week that made it "abundantly clear that the UCI's disciplinary body would be unable to prosecute Froome." The six-time grand tour winner returned an adverse analytical finding for "elevated levels of the asthma drug salbutamol" at last year's Vuelta a España. Froome will keep his '17 Vuelta title and the Giro d'Italia title which he won in May. The 33-year-old released a statement on Twitter thanking his fans for their support. He wrote, "Grateful and relieved to finally put this chapter behind me, it has been an emotional 9 months." The Amaury Sport Organisation, which had been "looking to block Froome from competing in this year's race" on the basis that he might damage "the image" of the event, has "yet to make a statement." Monday's statement from the UCI revealed that, after "months of research," Froome's lawyers submitted their explanation for his AAF on June 4 "together with significant additional expert evidence" (TELEGRAPH, 7/2).

MOVING ON: The AP's Andrew Dampf reported Froome's use of asthma medication has been "well documented," and the Kenyan-born rider has "often been spotted using inhalers during races." WADA rules state that an athlete can be cleared for excessive salbutamol use "if he proves that it was due to an appropriate therapeutic dosage." Froome said, "I have suffered with asthma since childhood. I know exactly what the rules are regarding my asthma medication and I only ever use my puffer to manage my symptoms within the permissible limits." He added, "Today's ruling draws a line. It means we can all move on and focus on the Tour de France" (AP, 7/3). The BBC reported Team Sky said that Froome was "only 19% over the limit" -- not double, as has been previously reported -- when the adverse test was "adjusted to take account of dehydration." The team also claims 20 other tests conducted on Froome during his victory at last year's Vuelta did not need any "further explanation." Team Principal Dave Brailsford said that he "always had total confidence in Froome's integrity" and he is "looking forward to helping him challenge for a fifth Tour de France." Brailsford: "The same individual can exhibit significant variations in test results taken over multiple days while using exactly the same amount of salbutamol" (BBC, 7/2).

'CAREFUL CONSIDERATION': WADA announced it will not appeal the UCI's decision. WADA's announcement follows that of the UCI on Monday. WADA accepted that the analytical result of Froome's sample from September 7, 2017, during the Vuelta a España, which identified salbutamol at a concentration in excess of the decision limit of 1200 ng/mL(1), did not constitute an AAF (WADA).

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