"It's a real scandal. This has to stop." - Bernard Hinault

French retired cyclists Bernard Hinault has aired his thoughts on Chris Froome's win at the Giro d’Italia victory on Tuesday, saying that the Team Sky rider does not belong in the pantheon of cyclist such as himself and Eddy Merckx. In Rome on Sunday, Froome joined those two famous names by winning Grand Tours consecutively, having won last year’s Tour de France and Vuelta a España.

Bernard Hinault completed his wins between the 1982 and 1983 seasons, went as far as saying that Froome should not have even been on the start line  "Froome does not belong on that list," Hinault said, according to Belgian publication Het Laatste Nieuws. "He returned a positive test at the Vuelta and afterwards his B-sample proved positive, so he has used doping and he has to be suspended.

"He should never have been allowed to start in the Giro. Why do we have to wait so long for a verdict? Those two Italians who had the same thing [Alessandro Petacchi and Diego Ulissi -ed.] were suspended much faster. With what right does Froome get so much time to find an explanation? Is it because Sky has so much money?"

Froome is currently under investigation after an anti-doping test during the 2017 Vuelta a España, which he went on to win, showed him to have double the permitted levels of the asthma drug salbutamol in his urine. It remains for the British rider and his legal team must now prove that he did not exceed the allowed dosage in order to avoid a suspension. As salbutamol is a 'specified' substance on WADA's banned list, Froome is allowed to compete while the investigation is going on. Both Petacchi and Ulissi received immediate bans for elevated levels of salbutamol even though it took nine months for a verdict to be reached in Ulissi’s case.

Last week, UCI president David Lappartient told the emdia that he could not guarantee that Froome’s case would be resolved by the time the Tour de France begins in July. Also, could also not confirm whether or not the results that Froome earns during the time of the investigation will be removed if he is handed a suspension.

"This is all very sad," added Hinault. "Froome is not part of the legend of the sport, because what image does he give cycling? He may also start the Tour later."

"It’s a real scandal. This has to stop."

Bernard Hinault Bio

OSMedia @optimum_sports

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Martin Finishes Third Volta a Catalunya

Nairo Quintana has become the third Colombian to win the Volta a Catalunya, with Great Britain’s Chris Froome finishing eighth overall.

Sunday’s final stage through Montjuic Park in Barcelona was won by Alexey Tcatevich but Froome finished the stage in 19th.

The reigning Tour de France champion, 30, battled through the final stage, attempting to put some distance between himself and Quintana and was clear in front for a period of the race before being pegged back by the chasing pack. The Colombian follows in the footsteps of his countrymen Álvaro Mejía and Hernan Buenahora, who won the race in 1993 and 1998 respectively

Froome’s compatriot Hugh Carthy finished the competition in ninth with Team Sky finishing third.

Dan Martin, the 2013 winner, finished third overall, 17 seconds behind Quintana and on the same time as defending champion Richie Porte of Australia.

Quintana, who took the lead at the end of the fourth stage of the week-long race in Spain, said: "There's a lot of emotion to have been able to beat my rivals. It gives me confidence that we are working well."

Final Classification

1. Nairo Quintana (Col/Movistar) 30hrs 50mins 19secs

2. Alberto Contador (Spa/Tinkoff) +7secs

3. Daniel Martin (Ire/Etixx - Quick-Step) +17secs

4. Richie Porte (Aus/BMC Racing) Same time

5. Tejay van Garderen (US/BMC Racing) +27secs

6. Romain Bardet (Fra/AG2R) +31secs

7. Ilnur Zakarin (Rus/Katusha) +42secs

8. Chris Froome (GB/Team Sky) +46secs

9. Hugh Carthy (GB/Caja Rural) +1min 01secs

10. Rigoberto Uran (Col/Cannondale) +1min 16secs

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Froome Warned UCI on Mechanical Doping

optimum-sports.com

Chris Froome has claimed he warned cycling authorities about possible mechanical doping in the sport.

After decades of struggling to combat illegal drug use, cycling’s image suffered a fresh blow on Sunday when stewards at the world cyclo-cross championships found an electric motor in Belgian teenager Femke Van den Driessche’s bike.

Den Driessche has maintained her innocence since the discovery, but Froome said he had heard whispers about mechanical doping before and shared them with the International Cycling Union (UCI). 

“It’s a concern that I’ve had, something I’ve brought up with the UCI independent commission when I sat down with them and said, ‘listen, from my point of view there are these rumours, it would be my advice that the UCI implements controls and measure to start checking bikes more regularly’,” said the two-times winner of the Tour de France.

The UCI has promised to step up testing for motorised doping, which Froome has welcomed. “I think they are taking the threat seriously and hopefully this will mean that they only increase the number of checks that they do on the world tour level,” the 30-year-old said ahead of taking part in the Herald Sun Tour, which starts in Victoria, Australia, on Wednesday.

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Froome Sticks with Sky

Chris Froome said it was an easy decision to extend his contract with Team Sky to the end of 2018 because “their values are my values”.

The double Tour de France winner tweeted: “Thrilled to announce my extension with @TeamSky until end of 2018. Looking forward to many more successes together!”

The 30-year-old joined Sky in 2010, where he acted as a super-domestique for Bradley Wiggins in the 2012 Tour de France, finishing second overall to his team-mate. He went on to win the event following year and then again in 2015.

Sir Dave Brailsford, the team principal, told the Team Sky website: “Chris is not only one of the most talented and dedicated riders in the world, he is also a fantastic ambassador for the sport.

“Team Sky is proud to have him as our team leader. He is a winner and it is a great boost at the start of the new season that he has committed to stay with the team to the end of 2018. He is hungry for more success and we will help him achieve it.”

Froome said: “Team Sky have been fundamental to my success to date, so it was a very easy decision to commit to the team until the end of 2018. Their values are my values and I am proud to ride for a team that has shown that you can win the biggest bike races in the world clean.

He said that “2015 was a fantastic year for me both professional and personally and this is a great kickstart to 2016. I am more motivated than I have ever been and I have got big targets for this Olympic year. I can’t wait to start racing.”

Froome plans to start his 2016 campaign at the Herald Sun Tour in Australia at the start of next month.

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Grand Depart in Duesseldorf

Düsseldorf is to host the Grand Départ of the 2017 Tour de France. The city council voted 40-39 in favour of applying last month after London withdrew for cost reasons.

It will be the first time for 30 years Germany has hosted the Grand Départ, since West Berlin in 1987.

It will be the fourth time in the race’s century-old history that cycling’s showpiece starts in Germany. The 2016 tour starts in La Manche in northern France on 2 July.

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Cavendish Starts Season Downunder

British cycling ace Mark Cavendish will start his season at next month’s Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road race. Event organisers have confirmed the 30-year-old sprinter will compete at the 31 January event, when he will make his debut with Team Dimension Data.

Cavendish is the third-most prolific Tour de France stage winner with 26 and he won the 2011 world road race championship. His last Australian race was the 2011 Tour Down Under.

He is the first big overseas rider to confirm he will start at next year’s Cadel Evans race and he joins Australian pair Simon Gerrans and Rohan Dennis as the headline names in the field.

He is also the second big overseas cycling name to announce he will race this summer in Australia, but not at the Tour Down Under. The Adelaide event is Australia’s only top-level WorldTour race.

Last month, two-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome announced he will compete at the February Herald Sun Tour in Victoria.

The confirmations of Froome and Cavendish are a massive boost for the profile of the Victorian events. It also continues a trend where big names accept lucrative contracts to race early in the season at non-WorldTour events.

World champion Peter Sagan, last year’s Tour de France winner Vincenzo Nibali and this year’s Tour runner-up Nairo Quintana will all compete next month at the Tour de San Luis in Argentina.

“We wanted cycling’s biggest names in Victoria and that’s exactly what we’ve got,” Victorian tourism minister John Eren said. “The top names belong in the state that does the big events best.

“We want the big sporting events in Victoria, because they mean jobs for locals and a stronger economy.”

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Nibali Wins Il Lombardia

Vincenzo Nibali won Il Lombardia in style on Sunday to claim his first Monument one-day classic victory. The Astana rider, who was thrown out of the Vuelta last month for holding on to a team car, attacked on the penultimate descent and never looked back.

Spain’s Dani Moreno (Katusha) and the Frenchman Thibaut Pinot (FDJ), who jumped away from the group of favourites on the last climb to lead the chase, finished second and third, 21 and 32 seconds back respectively after 245km from Bergamo.

“It was a fantastic day, the whole team worked very well,” said Nibali, who was sheltered by Diego Rosa in the last part of the race, one of the five Monument classics along with Milan-San Remo, the Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix and Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

Nibali’s previous best result in the Monuments was third place on Milan-San Remo and second in Liège-Bastogne-Liège in 2012.

“I tried to attack on the climb but I realised I had to do it differently,” he added.

Nibali attacked on the ascent of the Civiglio but was reined in by Pinot. He attacked again on the downhill and no rider was able to follow the Italian, one of the best descenders in the world. Pinot and Moreno were stronger than the rest of the top riders on the final climb but failed to close the gap, which increased on the last downhill.

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Kwiatkowski Joins Team Sky

Team Sky have named 2014 world road race champion Michal Kwiatkowski as their seventh and final signing for the new season.

The 25-year-old Pole will join the British squad from Etixx - Quick-Step on January 1.

Kwiatkowski is one of the most highly rated young talents in the sport, specialising in hilly one-day classics and week-long stage races.

As well as the claiming the rainbow jersey last year, he has also won the Amstel Gold Race, Strade Bianche and the Volta ao Algarve in his six-year professional career.

Kwiatkowski told teamsky.com: "Team Sky aim for the highest goals in cycling so I'm very happy that this move has become a reality.

"Sir Dave Brailsford believes in my ability, which gives me great confidence for next season, and I know that this team can help me raise my performance levels and win big races.

"The team's marginal gains philosophy really fits my approach to cycling and I have great respect for what this team has achieved in such a short time. I am excited and motivated to race for Team Sky next year."

Team Sky principal Sir Dave Brailsford said: "Michal has performed fantastically well over the past couple of years. We have been following Michal's career for a long time. We tried to sign him four years ago, we tried to sign him two years ago, so this time we weren't going to miss out.

"We would like to think that we could add value to his career and offer him an opportunity to develop with Team Sky in both his one-day racing and stage racing.

"He is a future talent and he can keep getting better. His progression is what we are interested in and being part of that development."

Team Sky have not revealed the length of contract Kwiatkowski has signed.

They previously announced the signatures of Alex Peters, Gianni Moscon, Michal Golas, Danny van Poppel, Benat Intxausti and Mikel Landa.

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