Lappartient unsure if Chris Froome case will be resolved before Tour de France
23 May 2018 02:32
UCI President David Lappartient has said that Chris Froome's salbutamol case may not be concluded before Tour de France in July. Lappartient, who was voted in last September, told Cyclingnews that he had hoped the case would be resolved before the Giro d'Italia but now said that it could carry on through the French Grand Tour. Lappartient was at the start of stage 17 in Riva del Garda. He posed for a photograph with race leader Simon Yates but suddenly slipped away from the podium area when Chris Froome signed on. The two have never talked in person, with Lappartient preferring to express his thoughts on the case via the media. "We hope that it will be as soon as possible and I hope and call for a decision before the Tour for everybody, for his team, for the rider, for the UCI, for the fans and for the organiser," he told Cyclingnews at the Giro d'Italia where he was visiting stage 17. "We don't want to be in the situation where we don't have a decision before the Tour de France. At the beginning, I was expecting a decision before the Giro when we spoke about this in September, unfortunately, this wasn't the case. I don't know if we'll be able to have this before July."ADVERTISEMENT Froome recorded more than twice the permitted levels of the asthma medication salbutamol in an anti-doping test performed in the final week of last year's Vuelta a Espana. Froome, who has denied any wrongdoing, is under investigation as a result and must prove that he did not exceed the permitted dosage. There are no time limits on the length of the investigation and Froome is allowed to compete as salbutamol is a specified substance rather than a banned one. He is currently racing at the Giro d'Italia, where he lies in fourth place overall, and Lappartient says that, from a UCI standpoint, he will be able to compete at the Tour de France if the case has not reached its conclusion. However, he says that he still believes that Froome should voluntarily suspend himself. He also admits that Tour de France organiser ASO could prevent Froome from racing under their own regulations. "Of course, regarding the UCI rules, if there is no decision before and there is no sanction then he has the opportunity to ride the Tour de France and we always will fully respect his right," said Lappartient. "I made a statement before that I consider the best way for everybody would be for him not to ride. I keep and maintain my position, however, we recognise that he has a right and we don't challenge this. But, on the other hand for the Tour de France, they have specific regulations with the potential way to declare that the rider will not be allowed to take part – but this is not under the UCI rules, this is a specific regulation of the event and image of the race. Big brother is watching
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