Chris Froome maintains plans to treat asthma at Tour de France
Thursday 5 July 2018 11:15, UK
Chris Froome has told Sky Sports News he is "still an asthmatic" and will treat any symptoms as they occur on the Tour de France.
Race organisers had made a formal move to block Froome from competing prior to Monday's UCI announcement that the probe into his adverse analytical findings (AAF) of salbutamol in his urine during last year's La Vuelta had been dropped.
He has always maintained his innocence, insisting he only ever ingested the permitted dosage of the bronchodilator to treat his asthma.
Froome will line up for Saturday's opening stage in Noirmoutier-en-l'Ile as the defending champion and seeking a record-equalling fifth title.
"I'm still an asthmatic, that hasn't changed," Froome told Sky Sports News. "I'll obviously treat the symptoms as they occur. But always within the guidelines and the rules of the sport."
Froome admitted the investigation has "undoubtedly been damaging" but said he is glad to "draw a line in the sand and move on".
"It would be crazy to say it hasn't been [damaging]," said Froome. "But I'd also like to think that now the facts have been established people can make up their own minds. Well at least the experts and authorities have made up their minds."
Froome said it is down to the UCI and WADA to decide if the threshold of permissible salbutamol should be changed.
The head of world cycling has urged the public to ensure Froome has a "safe" Tour de France.
Froome heads Team Sky TdF line-up
Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) President, David Lappartient took to Twitter to condemn calls for violence towards the Team Sky rider.
Froome said: "We've come up against adversity many times in the last few years. That's just something you deal with in the moment."
