Foldable Bikes Party: Vaughters: Chris Froome should do the honourable thing

Friday, 9 February 2018

Vaughters: Chris Froome should do the honourable thing

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Jonathan Vaughters believes Chris Froome’s decision to carry on racing while an anti-doping case hangs over him represents a ‘huge problem’ for professional cycling. The EF-Drapac manager told Cyclingnews on Thursday that if Froome wanted to protect the sport he would do ‘the honourable thing’ and withdraw himself from competition.

Froome and Team Sky announced on Monday that the rider will make his 2018 season debut at the Ruta del Sol next week, despite being an adverse analytical finding for salbutamol at last year’s Vuelta a España.

Given the asthma drug is a ‘specified’ substance on WADA’s prohibited list, the AAF was not made public and Froome was not provisionally suspended by the UCI. The case only came to light through the newspapers Le Monde and The Guardian, and since then many have expressed concern about Froome racing with a possible ban hanging over him.

Team Sky principal Dave Brailsford sought to justify Froome’s return to racing on Tuesday but Vaughters, likewise in Colombia at the Oro y Paz race, argued it was damaging to the sport.

“On the one hand you can say ‘well, since it would normally be private, until there’s a resolution he has every right to race’. And that’s an understandable perspective. But the reality is it’s not private, it is now public. So the reality is, in my opinion, that every race he shows up to, he becomes the centre of attention, the scandal becomes the centre of attention, and the race almost becomes secondary, and that is damaging to cycling,” he said.

“In my opinion the honourable thing to do on his part would simply be to not race until that was done, if he was trying to protect the sport. That way he wouldn’t make himself almost like a sideshow – not even a sideshow, actually, but the centre of attention."