Paris, Dec 13(AFP) Four-time Tour de France winner ChrisFroome failed a drugs test for asthma medication during theVuelta race in September, cycling's governing body UCI said ontoday.
The British Team Sky rider had twice the permitted levelof legal asthma drug Salbutamol in his body.
The UCI has asked Froome to provide more information buthas not suspended him.
Team Sky said the 32-year-old rider had suffered fromasthma since childhood and had been affected by symptomsduring the Vuelta a Espana, the Tour of Spain, which he wenton to win.
But the team said he had taken no more than the allowableamount of Salbutamol.
"During the final week of the Vuelta, Chris experiencedacute asthma symptoms. On the advice of the Team Sky doctor,he used an increased dosage of Salbutamol (still within thepermissible doses) in the run-up to the 7 September urinetest," Team Sky said.
The team said Froome had declared his use of themedication, adding: "The notification of the test finding doesnot mean that any rule has been broken."Froome said the UCI was "absolutely right" to scrutinisethe test results.
He said that during the race he had "followed the teamdoctor's advice to increase my Salbutamol dosage".
"As always, I took the greatest care to ensure that I didnot use more than the permissible dose," he said.
"Together with the team, I will provide whateverinformation it requires," he added.
Froome was notified of the test on September 20, the dayhe finished third in the world time-trial championship inBergen, Norway.
He has not competed since then, but has announced hisintention to try to win the three big tours, in France, Spainand Italy, in 2018.
The test will raise new questions about British cyclingfollowing the scandal surrounding the only previous BritishTour de France winner, Bradley Wiggins, over his use of so-called therapeutic use exemptions (TUEs).
It emerged that Wiggins received TUEs in order to take acorticosteroid before his three biggest races in 2011, 2012and 2013, including his 2012 Tour de France win.
Wiggins and Sky have repeatedly denied any wrongdoing,saying the drug was prescribed to treat a longstanding pollenallergy.(AFP)APA.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.