The Sky has fallen!
December 19, 2017
!WTF! is happening?
The last time I wrote about cycling it was for closing the chapter of one of the most talented cyclist's career. Unfortunately not on a good note. Samuel Sanchez was falling for drugs abuse and would never come back, being suspended at the age of 39. But what is on the way is even bigger. Way bigger. The team Sky and his iconic rider Christopher Froome are on their way for the biggest sport fiasco since Lance Armstrong confession. The international press has relayed the news of an "abnormal rate of Salbutamol in his body" during the last Vuelta, race that he won in August after his fourth victory in Le Tour de France, being the first British winning the Spanish race, and the first rider since 1978 winning both race in the same year.
What exactly is Salbutamol?
The Salbutamol is a substance well known by asthmatic people. This is what helps them to breathe properly is case of crisis. It works by relaxing the muscles in the walls of the small airways in the lungs. We all had one day a skinny friend using this puff, breathless, trying to follow their mates playing football in the schoolyards. That's the thing. The UCI allows its use on some proportion (1000ng/ml) for medical treatment. This is were the story starts to be tricky folks. Go ahead the limit and it may be considered as doping. Weird though, cause there is no scientific studies until today showing it really increases performances.
What's the next step?
Team Sky will fight back hard to keep its reputation clean and their star on his bike. The line of defense is clear. According to its statement, Froome followed medical subscription and always in the limits authorized by UCI. Fair enough. At that stage this is the right thing to say. You imagine their PR saying "So sorry, we fucked up, Chris is indeed a drug addict. We are closing the shop". No, they won't. At least not now. Especially that Froome is not banned yet. In the Salbutamol's case, the regulation is clear. The athlete is not suspended during the procedure. However, Chris Froome and his team carry the burden of proving his innocence. They will have to show that the abnormal rate of this substance in his body was due to specific circumstances. His very unique metabolism or a high level of dehydration. Is this scientifically explainable? Yes it is, but honestly, I do not foresee a positive outcome. Proving his innocence, will be a very tricky task. The last cases of Salbutamol ended with a one year ban for Alessandro Petacchi and Diego Ulissi. However, Team Sky is probably the most professional and powerful cycling team in the world, they may have in their possession some information that may allow them to proof Froome's innocence.
What does he risk?
If he fail proving his innocence, Froome may be suspended for 2 years. This would probably be the end of his professional career. But this actually would mean way more than that. Christopher Froome is the incarnation of a new wave in cycling, supposedly clean, respecting values, and fighting for keeping suspicion away from this sport. Behind his words though, Chris Froome performances has always been questioned. His amazing successes only happened after he joined Team Sky in 2010. His first real significant result was a second place at the Vuelta in 2011 where he came a bit out of nowhere at the age of 26. Late successes happen in cycling and Froome always claimed that he suffered from a lot of different infections to explain his slow climb to the top. Let's give him the benefit of the doubt. He has such a cute baby face, he can not decently lie in the face of the world doesn't he?
Is Team Sky another US Postal?
Since team Sky has arrived in the pack, a lot of questions has been raised. They turned Bradley Wiggins, a former Olympic Pursuit specialist into a Tour de France winner, before making Chris Froome a four times winner and probably the best rider of the last 10 years. In addition, they built a team who did dominate the Tour de France since 2011 without contest, remembering what US Postal and Lance Armstrong have done in a recent past. Team Sky and his Manager Dave Brailsford have always claimed being clean though, working hard on the development of revolutionary training techniques and on athletes psychology and physiology. The well known "marginal gain" working strategy has been often explained by Brailsford to illustrate how professional and how far the team was going in his physiological analysis, techniques improvement and detailed approach to improve performances. The success of Brailsford with Team Sky and previously with the British track cycling team at the Olympic games is impressive. Their approach is indeed revolutionary, working on every little detail, avoiding every small mistakes. Team Sky is for instance the only team on the last Tour de France who were sleeping on their own bus in order to avoid long travel and sometimes uncomfortable hotels and doubtful beds. Brailsford explained they were gaining time and quality sleep for the whole team. This is how professional these guys are. Surfing on the limits of medical treatment is definitely a way to apply marginal gain strategy. In this case, they may have played a bit too much, they may have gone a bit too far. Weather or not it improved Chris Froome's performances will probably stay unclear, however, the Salbutamol intake may cost them more than the loss of a victory, but their all credibility and the career of their symbol. Sky is the limit yes, but they may have broken it.