Chris Froome fails a drug test

Callumcafc

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/42335916

Four-time Tour de France champion Chris Froome failed a drug test during his Vuelta a Espana win in September.

The Team Sky rider had double the allowed level of legal asthma drug Salbutamol in his system.

Cycling's world governing body the UCI wants more details from the team but says Froome is not suspended.

McBobbin

Stupid thing to get caught with, but surely can be explained away, my asthma is going crazy buggers at the moment, there isn't a drug test I'll past right now.

newyorkaddick

It's amazing how many top cyclists have overcome asthma to reach the highest echelons of their sport.

IT_Andy

He suffered from it as a child but in saying that alot of people grow out of it in the adult years. It might be more than a coindicdence that Wiggins and Froome suffered from the same thing.

ForeverAddickted

newyorkaddick said:

It's amazing how many top cyclists have overcome asthma to reach the highest echelons of their sport.

Yeah crazy how good Paula Ratcliffe et al were on a bike when they had Asthma

SuedeAdidas

Paul Scholes had bad Asthma and went on to be one of our best players of his generation.

He even had to contend with having ginger balls and a little winky!

Leroy Ambrose

There's a theory that you are more likely to be asthmatic if you have a high Vo2 max - which is something that all elite athletes (especially cyclists, distance runners and cross-country skiers) all have.

The stupid thing about this is that salbutamol isn't even performance-enhancing - clinical tests have proven no performance improvement when dosed way beyond the levels found here. If he hasn't got an exemption from the UCI, then he's fucked - end of

Arsenetatters

I'm right chuffed about this. Can't stand the squeaky-clean, up him self, man.

Cafc43v3r

Is anyone actually surprised?

MuttleyCAFC

We have a sideline with signed framed pictures and it is quite interesting how Anthony Joshua and Lewis Hamilton sell themselves (we have completely sold out), but 4 times Tour de France winner Froome frames don't seem so popular. We might not be marketing to the right people, but given what he has achieved representing our country, it is surprising he is not more popular. Is it because people don't trust the sport?

cafcdave123

MuttleyCAFC said:

We have a sideline with signed framed pictures and it is quite interesting how Anthony Joshua and Lewis Hamilton sell themselves (we have completely sold out), but 4 times Tour de France winner Froome frames don't seem so popular. We might not be marketing to the right people, but given what he has achieved representing our country, it is surprising he is not more popular. Is it because people don't trust the sport?

It's a funny one, if I were to say I don't like the bloke and he comes across as a dick I doubt I'd have many accusing me of being jealous but if I was to say the same of Joshua/Hamilton then suddenly I'm a jealous hater.

JamesSeed

Cafc43v3r said:

Is anyone actually surprised?

What, that it's not performance enhancing?

MuttleyCAFC

A lot of people don't particularly like Hamilton and he has had negative publicity relating to his tax affairs recently, but I think you have to respect his abilities and excuse the pun, how driven he is. It is hard to hate somebody you don't know. Froome strikes me as being dedicated and driven in the same way other champions are. In modern sport you have to create the conditions to be a champion as well as do the business when it matters. That can require a certain ruthlessness! My feeling is that it might be more about the reputation of the sport rather than him. I mean, I can't honestly say whether he is a nice bloke or a not so nice bloke and I don't think anybody who doesn't know him can.

Carter

MuttleyCAFC said:

A lot of people don't particularly like Hamilton and he has had negative publicity relating to his tax affairs recently, but I think you have to respect his abilities and excuse the pun, how driven he is. It is hard to hate somebody you don't know. Froome strikes me as being dedicated and driven in the same way other champions are. In modern sport you have to create the conditions to be a champion as well as do the business when it matters. That can require a certain ruthlessness! My feeling is that it might be more about the reputation of the sport rather than him. I mean, I can't honestly say whether he is a nice bloke or a not so nice bloke and I don't think anybody who doesn't know him can.

Same can be said for Andy Murray, a winner

Grafter, also very honest. Doesn't pretend to be English or only chooses to be Scottish when it suits him.

colthe3rd

Leroy Ambrose said:

There's a theory that you are more likely to be asthmatic if you have a high Vo2 max - which is something that all elite athletes (especially cyclists, distance runners and cross-country skiers) all have.

The stupid thing about this is that salbutamol isn't even performance-enhancing - clinical tests have proven no performance improvement when dosed way beyond the levels found here. If he hasn't got an exemption from the UCI, then he's fucked - end of

Not accusing him of anything but a lot of the time aren't these other drugs some take a way of masking actual performance enhancing drugs. I know a number of MMA fighters who have done similar and wasn't it suspected that Kolo Toure's diet pills an example of this? Any chance that this could have happened here?

Cafc43v3r

JamesSeed said:

Cafc43v3r said:

Is anyone actually surprised?

What, that it's not performance enhancing?

No that he has failed a drug test

JamesSeed

MuttleyCAFC said:

We have a sideline with signed framed pictures and it is quite interesting how Anthony Joshua and Lewis Hamilton sell themselves (we have completely sold out), but 4 times Tour de France winner Froome frames don't seem so popular. We might not be marketing to the right people, but given what he has achieved representing our country, it is surprising he is not more popular. Is it because people don't trust the sport?

Wiggins who is more popular with the public has more star quality, and despite being born in Belgium, is a proper Brit and a mod to boot. Froome has hardly ever been to Britain except to race. Froome is a nice, ordinary, friendly bloke. Wiggins is a bit mixed up and edgy (a knob to some).

There have been question marks about Wiggins' use of TUEs. Through work I happen to know that the product in that famous dodgy jiffy bag wasn't what Sky said it was. It was in fact a different asthma related product for which Sky/Wiggins had a TUE. The only problem was that the Wiggins was given the product a couple of days before the TUE had come into effect. So they broke the rules and got away with it. But this wasn't the EPO related smoking gun some thought it might be.

Greenie

The sport is riddled with cheats, its a joke.

Karim_myBagheri

seems a bit of a non story but its good that the UCI are so stringent. hope they do the same to all the riders.

Stu_of_Kunming

Greenie said:

The Sport is riddled with cheats, its a joke.

Chris_from_Sidcup

MuttleyCAFC said:

We have a sideline with signed framed pictures and it is quite interesting how Anthony Joshua and Lewis Hamilton sell themselves (we have completely sold out), but 4 times Tour de France winner Froome frames don't seem so popular. We might not be marketing to the right people, but given what he has achieved representing our country, it is surprising he is not more popular. Is it because people don't trust the sport?

Probably more to do with how much exposure the athletes get. Joshua and Hamilton are everywhere, their sports are more popular, they're on chat shows, game shows, feature in adverts etc.

What does Froome do? Apart from the 3 weeks when the tour de france is on, Froome will rarely be in the news. If you stopped 10 people in the street and showed them a photo of him, i'd say at least 7 wouldn't be able to name him.

killerandflash

There goes any chance of winning SPOTY on Sunday!

Leroy Ambrose

colthe3rd said:

Leroy Ambrose said:

There's a theory that you are more likely to be asthmatic if you have a high Vo2 max - which is something that all elite athletes (especially cyclists, distance runners and cross-country skiers) all have.

The stupid thing about this is that salbutamol isn't even performance-enhancing - clinical tests have proven no performance improvement when dosed way beyond the levels found here. If he hasn't got an exemption from the UCI, then he's fucked - end of

Not accusing him of anything but a lot of the time aren't these other drugs some take a way of masking actual performance enhancing drugs. I know a number of MMA fighters who have done similar and wasn't it suspected that Kolo Toure's diet pills an example of this? Any chance that this could have happened here?

Salbutamol isn't a particularly effective masking agent. It can be used to mask the use of Clenbuterol (commonly used for weight loss) but there are far better drugs available for that. The problem here is that it's another 'grey area'. Froome has had asthma since he was a child - that's not in dispute. The dose we're being told he had in his system is the equivalent of four double pumps of an inhaler in a 24 hour period. Of a drug that isn't performance-enhancing (actually proven not to be, in clinical studies - and is on the banned list because it's dangerous, rather than performance-enhancing) What's ridiculous is that being equated with Armstrong et al juicing themselves up to the gills on EPO, blood bags, Steroids and fuck knows what else

It won't matter a jot though because people who don't know this will just see 'drugs' and 'cycling' and jump to conclusions. He's fucked whatever happens.

MuttleyCAFC

Chris_from_Sidcup said:

MuttleyCAFC said:

We have a sideline with signed framed pictures and it is quite interesting how Anthony Joshua and Lewis Hamilton sell themselves (we have completely sold out), but 4 times Tour de France winner Froome frames don't seem so popular. We might not be marketing to the right people, but given what he has achieved representing our country, it is surprising he is not more popular. Is it because people don't trust the sport?

Probably more to do with how much exposure the athletes get. Joshua and Hamilton are everywhere, their sports are more popular, they're on chat shows, game shows, feature in adverts etc.

What does Froome do? Apart from the 3 weeks when the tour de france is on, Froome will rarely be in the news. If you stopped 10 people in the street and showed them a photo of him, i'd say at least 7 wouldn't be able to name him.

When you go to Italy you see how much they love cycling. There isn't that following here, that is for certain, although success seems to be making it more popular. I mean, of course, as a spectator sport, not a participation sport. In the latter respect a drive along the roads of Hertfordshire on a Sunday will tell you how popular it is.

The_President

Couple of other 'Asthmatics'..... IT Botham and Laura Trott.
Most cyclists are Asthmatics.

MuttleyCAFC

Maybe they are advised to cycle to help the Asthma as kids!

SuedeAdidas

killerandflash said:

There goes any chance of winning SPOTY on Sunday!

Sly pharmacist of the year

ShootersHillGuru

You have to ask exactly why he was taking the drug even if the reason was legitimate without informing the authorities he was doing so.

I don’t buy into the reasoning that it’s all a mistake. The riders, trainers and medical staff are all aware of the rules and consequences and that Salbutamol is on the list of drugs that are not allowed. Do they really expect us to believe that they take their professionalism to the maximum heights in every area of the sport except looking after the key to the medicines cupboard. He was taking it for a reason and it sure as hell wasnt just to stop him wheezing.

Cycling as a sport is long finished being credible. Athletics isn’t too far behind.

Leroy Ambrose

Sigh. He did tell the authorities. The UCI were aware that he had a Salbutamol inhaler. As was anybody else who watched the race and saw him use it. The problem is that he appears to have used it too often in the race. Whether his doctor asked for that or not is the critical point here - and whether the amount he was allowed to use after asking explains the level found in his system afterwards can be explained by the extra dose

Again - it isn't performance enhancing

I know this always sounds patronising, but people shouldn't believe the media - who basically only exist around cycling when they can sensationalise a doping scandal.

Cycling has less of a PED problem than probably any other sport on Earth at this point - simply because of the ridiculous levels of 'real' doping in its recent past.

McBobbin

surely it is performance enhancing, over having to cycle whilst having an asthma attack...

ShootersHillGuru

Leroy Ambrose said:

Sigh. He did tell the authorities. The UCI were aware that he had a Salbutamol inhaler. As was anybody else who watched the race and saw him use it. The problem is that he appears to have used it too often in the race. Whether his doctor asked for that or not is the critical point here - and whether the amount he was allowed to use after asking explains the level found in his system afterwards can be explained by the extra dose

Again - it isn't performance enhancing

I know this always sounds patronising, but people shouldn't believe the media - who basically only exist around cycling when they can sensationalise a doping scandal.

Cycling has less of a PED problem than probably any other sport on Earth at this point - simply because of the ridiculous levels of 'real' doping in its recent past.

Thanks for clearing up my misinformation.

The question though for cynics like me is why he was allowed by his team doctor to inhale x 2 the legal amount. These cycling teams are professionalism personified in every aspect of preparation. I still struggle to believe that an asthmatic who is aware of the consequences of getting it wrong and likewise his team were just so lazy.

I do understand that the drug in question is not in itself classed as performance enhancing but as already posted in the thread there are a lot of drugs that mask others. It’s widely accepted that the drug cheats are often several steps ahead of the enforcement agency so given the recent farcical history surrounding the sport we are right to be sceptical.