Christian Prudhomme (about Chris Froome): "All that for that"

Tour de France

Published on Monday, July 2, 2018 at 13:52

Christian, the director of the Tour, expresses his "wrath" on the slowness of the procedure with regard to Chris Froome , whitened and allowed to start the Tour Saturday after his abnormal control of salbutamol on the Vuelta last September, and calls for a change of rules.

"How do you welcome the decision of the International Cycling Union to clear Chris Froome?"
All that for that. We have been constantly repeating, since we became aware of the abnormal control like everyone else on December 13, that a quick response was needed. I first spoke about it as president of the AIOCC (International Association of Race Organizers) on behalf of all the organizers, because the presence of Chris Froome could pose a question to all race organizers. As the months go by, I've been on it all the time, anyway. After, at the beginning of June, David Lappartient, the president of the International Cycling Union, in at least one interview, said that there would be no answer before the Tour, whereas until then the tendency had been rather at contrary, and so we decided, three weeks ago, because we needed the response of an independent authority, to write to Chris Froome, Sky and the UCI to tell them that we would do play Article 29 of the Tour de France Particular Regulations ("ASO expressly reserves the right to refuse to participate in – or exclude from – the event a team or one of its members whose presence would be such as to damage the image or reputation of ASO or the test ") . We did not communicate on that because we did not want to throw oil on the fire. This information came out yesterday, it was authentic, and today is the answer we had been waiting for six months. It comes at the last moment, it's a shame, and it is especially sad that it took, even if I can understand that the experts of the World Anti-Doping Agency, the UCI and the lawyers of Chris Froome have worked hard, wait for months because nonresponse during all this time has obviously caused indecision, doubt and therefore suspicion. That's where we are.
        

"The answer comes at the last moment, when we ourselves started a procedure to have an answer from an independent sports authority"
                                    

Chris Froome will be at the start of the Tour?
Chris Froome will be at the start of the Tour, yes. And indeed the process of attacking the image that we had committed is obsolete since the sports authorities indicate that there was no fault. Is. He will be at the start of the Tour de France since UCI and WADA have finally given their answer.

Do you regret the slowness of the procedure?
Evidently that the rules must be changed, and that a control called abnormal, which has a legal meaning but which has no media sense , people do not understand, for them it's white or black, entails a temporary suspension. David Lappartient has already said that he wanted to go in this direction, it is imperative that we go so that we are no longer in a situation like today, where the answer falls at the last moment. And especially the procedure has been so slow, since the month of September, we are nine months later.

Are you relieved that the decision still falls before departure, Saturday?
It takes note, but clearly you have to change the rules. We never knew the substance of the file, we never spoke about it because we do not know it. If the experts believe that …, well here it is. Our wrath is that it has lasted so long and the answer comes at the last moment, when we ourselves started a procedure to have an answer from an independent sports authority. The decision falls today, we would have liked it to fall before, of course. "
        

Alexandre Roos