“It’s only in cycling where it’s quite normal to investigate and tarnish the image of athletes of the present and of the past”
Protesting at the media for discussing if Chris Froome’s domination of this year’s Tour de France is credible and asking him questions relating to that, the Association of Professional Riders (CPA) has said that it is siding with Froome over the matter.
“It's not fair to blame someone without evidence against him”, said CPA president Gianni Bugno, who blasted what he said were unjustified allegations. “We demand more respect for Chris and for all the riders. We are witnessing a daily attack against the dignity of the riders in a manner that can no longer be tolerated.”
Froome has faced questions because of both his dominance of the race and also because he has posted climbing times on Ax 3 Domaines and Mont Ventoux that were just below the all time records for those summits. They were also quicker than many of those posted in the past by known drug users.
He and his Sky team have insisted they are clean and said that advances in training methods and natural ability are the reason why he is climbing so well.
Sky chief Dave Brailsford said on the Tour’s second rest day that the team may be willing to turn over biological passport and power data to the World Anti Doping Agency. Later that day, WADA told VeloNation that it hadn’t yet been approached and that it was unclear if such a proposal would fall under its mandate, but that it would consider the proposal once it was communicated to it.
The CPA today said that it believed that media and institutions have not been fair in their treatment of the sport.
“Despite all the efforts that cycling face to combat this scourge and despite the professional riders are the most controlled athletes in the world, they are too often portrayed as dishonest,” it stated.
“Unlike all the other disciplines [other sports – ed.] it’s only in cycling where it’s quite normal to investigate and tarnish the image of athletes of the present and of the past. Now we come to the paradox, with Froome, to publicly condemn an athlete without having any evidence against him.”
It concluded by calling for more respect for all riders, including Froome.
CPA president Bugno was a two-time world champion who finished seventh, second and third in the Tour de France between 1990 and 1992.
In 2002 he was given a six month suspended prison sentence and a fine of approximately 5,000 euro by a Belgian court for the purchase and possession of amphetamines.