French national coach Cyrille Guimard has criticised Team Sky’s decision to field Chris Froome at next week’s Ruta del Sol, and suggested other riders could refuse to compete against Froome or refuse to undergo anti-doping controls until the case is resolved.
Froome returned an adverse analytical finding for salbutamol during the 2017 Vuelta a España, though news of the case only entered the public domain when it was reported by the Guardian and Le Monde in mid-December.
Froome risks a ban and the loss of his Vuelta title, but because salbutamol is classed as a specified substance, he is free to race until a verdict is reached. In order to avoid a sanction, Froome must provide an explanation for how his anti-doping sample contained twice the permissible salbutamol limit of 1,000nl/mg. Froome last week dismissed reports that he was willing to negotiate a reduced ban.
Team Sky announced on Monday that Froome would begin his 2018 season at next week's Ruta del Sol. Although the rules allow Froome to participate, Guimard, who won the Tour de France as directeur sportif to Bernard Hinault and Laurent Fignon, maintains that Team Sky ought to withhold him from racing for the good of the sport.
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"Sky are taking the liberty of playing with the rules that authorise them to let their rider take part in competition. It's nothing more or less than a provocation. It's even worse than that, it's cynicism," Guimard told L'Équipe. "Froome and his team are putting one over on us. The act of riding the Ruta del Sol is an act of self-importance, because they absolutely don't care about the disastrous image that they are presenting of cycling.
"They're going to draw things out because the longer they take, the more chance they have of finding some technicality in the case that, in the end, will clear Froome. Sky are in the process of putting a well-oiled communications system in place, but nobody should be fooled."
Froome will hope that the Ruta del Sol ultimately serves as the first part of his build-up to a tilt at May's Giro d'Italia, but Guimard maintains that, with the outcome of the salbutamol case still pending, his appearance in Andalusia next week is also an act of public relations.
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