BRITISH cycling champion Chris Froome will compete in the Vuelta de Andalucía, the southern region's answer to the Tour de France, in a week's time while his failed drug test results from last year remain under investigation.
Team Sky has confirmed Froome, 32 – the first Brit ever to win the Vuelta a España – will be taking part in the Andalucía trial between Wednesday, February 14 and Sunday, February 18.
As yet, nothing further has been heard from the International Cyclists' Union (UCI) about Froome's 'dope-testing'.
The Kenyan-born rider was found to have taken a higher than permitted amount of the asthma drug Salbutamol whilst competing in the Vuelta a España in 2017, meaning the title could be stripped from him and he may face a ban long enough to stop him taking part in the 2018 Tour de France and Giro d'Italia.
But Froome maintained from the start that it was common knowledge on the circuit that he had asthma and used an inhaler to control it.
He said he 'knew the rules' and was fully aware that he would undergo drug-testing at every race, but that as his asthma had worsened during last year's Vuelta, he had taken his doctors' advice and upped the dose.
Team Sky and Froome are fighting the accusations, but say they think it 'absolutely right' that cyclists should be dope-tested and that they will supply the UCI with as much information as it needs.
UCI chairman David Lappartient said earlier that he thought Team Sky should suspend Chris until the outcome of the inquiry is revealed, but that it 'was not up to him'.
Team Sky manager Dave Brailsford admits they are going through 'difficult circumstances' and says it is important for everyone that the process is 'carried out fairly' before reaching a final conclusion.
“It's a complex situation, but we're working with Chris on it as hard as we can,” Brailsford said.
Froome himself says he trusts all parties will be able to 'get to the bottom' of what happened and that 'obviously' he understands the case has generated a great deal of uncertainty.
“I fully understand why there's been so much interest and speculation,” said the four-times Tour de France winner.
“I hope everyone appreciates that there's a limit to what I can say while the case is ongoing, but nobody is stronger than I am for getting over this as quickly as possible.”
Although he rides for Britain, Froome has never, in fact, lived in the UK – his parents are English, from Brighton, and he was born in Nairobi after the family moved to Kenya.
When Chris was 15, the family moved to Johannesburg, South Africa, and Chris took British citizenship when he was 23.
Since leaving South Africa, he has been living in Monaco.
