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news
geraint_thomas.jpgGeraint Thomas: Chris Froome case "not a great situation" for Sky as pair head to Tour de France
Geraint Thomas, who yesterday won the Criterium du Dauphiné, says that the ongoing salbutamol case involving Chris Froome is “not a great situation” for his team mate, nor for Team Sky.
The 32-year-old, who wore the leader’s yellow jersey at the Tour de Frabnce after winning the opening time trial of last year’s race, ceding it to Froome after Stage 5, said that his Dauphiné win was “the biggest” of his career on the road.
The Welshman will head to the Grand Depart of the Tour de France in the Vendée on 7 July as one of two protected riders in Team Sky alongside Froome, who is seeking a record-equalling fifth victory in the race.
However, defending champion Froome’s planned participation in the race has come under criticism, most vociferously from Bernard Hinault, who together with Eddy Merckx, Miguel Indurain and the late Jacques Anquetil holds a record five Tour de France titles.
With the Grand Depart less than four weeks away, there has also been speculation that organisers ASO may seek to exclude defending champion Froome from the race, while UCI president David Lappartient has said that it is unlikely the case will be concluded before the Tour de France finishes on 29 July.
Speaking to BBC Wales, Thomas said: "With Froome winning the Giro, especially in the fashion he did, and myself coming away with the Dauphine, it's all on course for hopefully having a great July.
"From the start of the year I said I wanted to get [to the Tour de France] in the best shape possible and I'm on course for that.
"My role in the team will be as one of the protected guys, Froome is going to be one of the leaders.
"But the first week is so unpredictable and a lot can happen, so it would be good to go in with two good guys and see how the race develops."
Referring to the case against Froome, who returned an adverse analytical finding for twice the permitted level of the anti-asthma drug salbutamol when winning last year’s Vuelta, Thomas said: "It's not a great situation for him, the team or just cycling in general
"Hopefully the authorities can just get their act together and have a decision, but I've got 100 per cent faith in him."
Thomas is out of contract at the end of the season, but hinted that he wanted to remain with Team Sky.
He said: "I am really happy here.
"Without the boys here I would not have won the Dauphine. I get to ride the races I want and I am a leader in most of them.
"So hopefully we can get all that sorted before the Tour de France," he added.
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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13 comments
Thought her argument was as much that an apology is due as the process shouldn’t have been made public before investigation is complete?
not totally sure I agree with that, but it would be interesting to know whether any other riders have been protected in that way??
FWIW, my view is that the oddity with Froome is that his score is so well off the scale. Would be interested to know the validity/ reliability ratios for that particular test. Otherwise and most obviously UCI continues with its mission to discredit itself at every stage, and the rest of us are stuck in faith based positions.
on balance it’s better for your personal well being to believe he’s clean. Believing he’s guilty probably leaves you in a position whereby the only TdF winner in history you can trust is dear old Cadel Evans!! In which case, why bother caring any more??
ps please don’t tell me if there’s any dirt on Evans!
Possibly, but again her thought process was that she didn't intend to miss any.
Can't remember the first she'd missed but I think the second wasn't arranged properly from the testers viewpoint. I believe the final one was due to a funeral.
Her thoughts were that she'd gone through her cycling career without issues so didn't expect to miss the third. Also, in reality the testers shouldn't have recorded it as a missed test, they should have ticked the "we f'd up" box...
No the first was the miss in the hotel,the second she accepted she hadn't filled the whereabouts system in correctly,think she'd gone to a team sponsor event but left the location as home,the third was the family emergency but by then had been relying on BC as backup to help fill in the system properly and that backup process failed. She only questioned that 1st hit roughly 10months after it happened and only when the 3rd was leading to a ban, so no I don't believe as much as i like & respect Lizzie that UKAD owe her an apology for that. Fwiw Froome also i think had a 1 miss in similar team hotel cant contact circumstance,but he took the hit for it.
Are these articles spell checked ? This site has really gone downhill in the last year or so.
I two, woz wundering the saim.
Read the article on the BBC website this morning, where Lizzie Deignan is lamenting the unfair treatment Chris Froome has received. She does have a point; this should not yet be in the public domain.
She then lamented her own treatment where she feels she is owed an apologiy from the authorities.
At this point I couldn't help but feel these sports people are a bit delusional.
Lizzie missed three tests, one of which she succesfully argued was not her fault. She got off on a technicality basically. That does not warrant an apology from the authorities trying to limit doping in sport. If she still can't recognise she had a case to answer, I think that says all you need to know about Lizzie.
Similarly to Froome, yes he should not be being subjected to trial by media, however there is no denying the medication was in his urine, so again, he has to accept there is a case to answer. The fact it has taken so long for his team to build a defence, I'd suggest is indicative of how significant a job he has on his hands to answer that.
The BBC article was followed up by a russian athlete moaning about her extended ban for a second offence. The cancer drug her mum was taking, which happened to build muscle as a side effect, happened to find its way into her system due to some cross contamination on a work surface.
The authorities said, maybe, but banned her anyway.
The parallels around argument stance with Froom and this russion athlete were very strong.
My point being, rightly or wrongly Froome has failed a test, there is not obvious argument to say how that happened, and he will therefore, ultimately IMO serve a punishment. The UCI / WADA needs to get their shit together to stop this farce happening again.
The whole thing is a bit of a farce, but Lizzie has a point. Unlike a failed test for a banned substance, this was a controlled substance, i.e. if theres a legit reason as to how it got there then fine. So, innocent until proven guilty. the issue is that this should have been confidential until a guilty/innocent verdict was reached, but somehow it got leaked. Bare in mind, we don't know how many similar cases have yielded no sanction as they remain confidential.
I think Lizzies point (and not speaking for her, but how I read it) was people have already assumed Froomes guilty, and consequently its going to have an impact on the case. There will be pressure on the UCI to ban him regardless, and if they don't there will be cries of 'cover-up', even if, in fact he is innocent (and I'm not claiming he is or isn't). Meanwhile, he's undergone trial by social media, everyones calling him a cheat before its been decided whether he's guilty or not. Thats tarnished his reputation and is irriparable, similar to Lizzie Deignans case. She was cleared of wrongdoing, but her reputation still has that stain on it.
The comparison I would draw is someon arrested for something horrific, gets leaked, people already start trashing that persons reputation, lose job, house, marriage etc etc. Turns out they were in a different country that day and totally innocent. You can't 'takeback' all that has been said and the damage that has already been done. In that case, an apology from the CPS would be the smallest thing you'd expect, if not suing for damages.
I'd say the same would be applicable in the Froome case, if (and a big if) he's found to be innocent, he/Sky would be perfectly within their rights to sue the UCI for damages as a consequence of the leaking of confidential information.
BTW, this is just a comment on the farce of the process, I don't really have an opinion either way of whether Froome is guilty or not before the 'if you think he's innocent you're a delusional snowflake' comments arrive!
Disagree - if they didn't inform her correctly then she didn't miss the test thus it isn't even a technicality. It warrants an apology.
Agree to disagree?
I can't remember the finer points of the missed test in question, but I know she chose not to challenge it until such a time that her head was on the block. if she had challenged it at the time it happened and had it struck of, then she wouldn't have ended up with her head on the block; hence why I believe no apology is due. By hook or by crook, she did this to herself.
So, by stage 9 Froome will have been banned and GT will have fallen off. Best chance for the French teams for years
Must say I agree. He’s got the legs, he can climb and TT, but struggles to stay upright at times!
I'm now curious about his views on the wetness of water.
Yes, it's an important question. Welsh water can be, and often is, 100% wet. This can change when it gets very cold and it seems to get less wet and more sort of solid. I think the water we'll encounter on the first few stages will be relatively soggy but probably not too much. In the high mountains we're expecting to see a bit of the more solid sort maybe. Those who get to the Champs Elysees may find a drop or too of quite posh water called "mineral water". This, I'm told, can have a very high coefficient of wetness.
Yours aqueously
Geraint