2018 Tour de France: British cyclist Chris Froome appeals race ‘ban’

Tour organisers ASO don’t want a repeat of
the Lance Armstrong scandal

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Although the Kenyan-born British rider has appealed the
decision, The Guardian says that “the mood in France is
hardening against Team Sky”. 

Froome’s supporters, and British cycling enthusiasts in
general, might claim that it’s a desperate attempt by the French to
prevent the four-time winner adding another title to his
collection, but that overlooks the trauma still felt in France by
the Lance Armstrong affair.

As the Guardian notes, Tour de France organisers now
acknowledge they were “made fools of” by the American and they
don’t want a repeat. It’s also about what image they want to
project, and allowing a rider tainted by doping allegations
wouldn’t sit well with the Tour’s commercial
partners.

Since twice the permitted level of the asthma drug
salbutamol were found in his system last year, Froome has denied
any wrongdoing and, vigorously backed by Team Sky, he remains
confident that his name will be cleared by a medical investigation.
Yet more than nine months later the process is ongoing, and Froome
has continued to race.

In January the president of the UCI, the Frenchman David
Lappartient, called on Team Sky to suspend Froome, which they
didn’t, and in February Christian Prudhomme, the director of the
Tour, voiced his disquiet about Froome’s situation.

“We need a response, for all race organisers, so that
there isn’t a rider that they’ll say later shouldn’t have been at
the start,” said Prudhomme. “It’s mad, completely
grotesque.”

Yet Team Sky, says the Guardian, are dismissive of the furore, despite
“the damning findings of the DCMS select committee report” that
portrayed them in a dubious light. Nonetheless there is a strong
chance Froome will win his appeal and be cleared to compete when
the race starts on Saturday in the Vendée. 

How he will be received by the French is another matter. The
Guardian says that “in France there is little interest in listening
to Froome’s point of view”, and one of the rival team bosses,
Marc Madiot of Groupama-FDJ, has praised ASO
for its stance.

“I pay tribute to what ASO is doing,” he said. “It would
be better for him not to be there for the general quietness of the
Tour.” 

Neither ASO nor Team Sky has commented on the situation but
Froome’s wife, Michelle, also his agent, stated at the weekend that “Chris will ride the
Tour”.