Most teams would suspend Froome: Copeland

Hvar, Croatia : Bahrain-Merida team manager Brent Copeland believes that Chris Froome should sit out of racing while his Salbutamol case is resolved. Froome returned an adverse analytical finding (AAF) for double the allowable limit of the asthma medication during this year’s Vuelta a España.

Froome was notified of the findings on September 20, but the issue only came to light on Wednesday through revelations from Le Monde and the Guardian. Copeland emphasised that his issue was not with Froome or Team Sky themselves, but argued that continuing to ride while the case is ongoing gives cycling a bad public image.

“I’ve known Chris for years, and I must be very clear that this isn’t against him. I think that Chris can come back stronger than before, I know him and his mindset,” Copeland said at Bahrain-Merida’s training camp in Croatia.

“If you have a code of conduct or an ethics code then you should follow that. September 20 is when they were notified and Chris still presented himself at several events and [Team Sky] were negotiating with RCS about the participation of him at the Giro d’Italia, knowing what they had on their plate, which is difficult for me to understand as a manager.”