This morning, sports science expert Ross Tucker explained how Team Sky cyclist Chris Froome is likely to try to explain his failed drug test.
"They’ve got to show that he’s a one in a million and that would have to require that he has some kidney condition that appeared on that specific day. He would have to go there and provide supporting evidence.
The cyclist had double the allowed limit of Salbutamol, an asthma drug, in his system during the Vuelta a Espana in September.
"He would have to argue that he took the maximum allowed dose… And then he would have to go and test himself under the most extreme dehydration possible until he can try and recreate something as close to that value that he got," Tucker told Off The Ball AM.
“He’s not going to get it in a lab, to me it’s impossible," the South African added.
“Somehow he’s got to trigger a repeat of a kidney condition (which resulted in the test score) - and then recreate all the surrounding contextual circumstances."
"He can go so far with the recreation, then he has to bridge that gap with a theoretical argument."
When the test result became public, Chris Froome said: “It is well known that I have asthma and I know exactly what the rules are. I use an inhaler to manage my symptoms (always within the permissible limits) and I know for sure that I will be tested every day I wear the race leader’s jersey.
“My asthma got worse at the Vuelta so I followed the team doctor’s advice to increase my Salbutamol dosage. As always, I took the greatest care to ensure that I did not use more than the permissible dose."
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