Will Chris Froome ride the Giro d'Italia?

Giro d'Italia organizers RCS are looking for reassurances, that if Froome wins, it won't be overturned afterwards, citing the damaging impact that Contador's subsequent ban had on the integrity of the Italian Grand Tour

RCS Sport and Giro d’Italia director Mauro Vegni has asked the UCI to take measures to ensure that Chris Froome can only start the Italian Grand Tour if there is a guarantee that he will not later be suspended and stripped of his results due to his adverse analytical finding for salbutamol.

RCS Sport are eager to avoid a repeat of the situation that arose in 2011, when Alberto Contador won the maglia rosa in Milan only to be stripped of the title after he was given a two-year ban for his positive test for Clebuterol at the 2010 Tour de France.

"On the Froome case, we’re awaiting the next steps from the UCI," Vegni told the the Italian ANSA news agency on Wednesday.

"We as Giro d’Italia organisers don’t want to stick our noses in, but we want a certificate from the UCI that allows the rider to be at the start of the next Giro d’Italia. They will have to tell us if the rider is going to be suspended, or if he can compete. We certainly can’t accept a repeat of the Contador case or a trial after the fact."

Froome's urine from stage 18 of the 2017 Vuelta, returned twice the permissible level of salbutamol, but as salbutamol is classed as a specified substance, hence the Adverse Anaytical Finding, not immediate ban, so technically is free to race until the case is resolved.

However Grand Tour's like the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France cannot get into a situation whereby a rider, who could podium, receives a restrospective ban afterwards.

Froome's position is a tricky one, on one hand he denies any wrong doing, his case was leaked without his permission.

Froome said that he was advised by his Team Sky doctor "to take a few extra puffs on his inhaler" after a stage before speaking to journalists. However, in this case Froome has to prove his innocence, which will take time, possibly after the Giro d'Italia in May starts and possibly after the Tour de France starts too.

Legally there's nothing stopping him taking part and Team Sky have confirmed their intentions to do so. Without reassurances, the Giro d'Italia they have decided that Froome's participation would be damaging.

Adverse Analytical Finding Legal Case Moves to Anti-Doping Tribunal

La Gazzetta newspaper says that until now the case has been at the ‘expert debate’ stage, where documents are exchanged between those defending the case and LADS.  La Gazzetta states that LADS (UCI’s Legal Anti-Doping Services) is then able to either acquit the rider or propose a sanction. It says that after weeks of discussions LADS has now handed the case over to the Anti-Doping Tribunal, and that a single judge will make a ruling on the case.

It is not yet clear when that will happen.

As of now, Froome has not accepted a voluntary suspension. This would likely mean that any ban would run from the moment a ruling is made rather than being backdated to last September.