In a bid to silence critics who claim that his two Tour de France wins were products of either conventional or so-called mechanical doping, Briton Chris Froome on Thursday released results of several physiological tests that demonstrated he was in top physical condition.
However, the unconventional nature of the release — in an article in the British edition of Esquire magazine — and the tests, which were arranged by his wife, means that Froome, the leader of Team Sky, might still face questions about his performances.
As with disgraced US rider Lance Armstrong, Froome’s sometimes dominant rides during the Tours this year and in 2013, when he first won, drew doping allegations.
Photo: Reuters
They escalated in the middle of this year’s Tour when Antoine Vayer, a French cycling coach, physical education teacher and anti-doping gadfly, published leaked physical race data from Froome online.
While those numbers were far from conclusive, Vayer suggested that the power output produced by Froome could only be explained by the assistance of a secret electric motor hidden inside the British rider’s bicycle.
While no one has been caught using mechanical doping, bikes are sometimes inspected for motors. Professional cyclists are data collection machines.
In addition to speed and distance, other devices record heart rate and power output. While some riders regularly post that information online, Froome’s team has resisted doing so, although it did make available the results from one of this year’s Tour stages.
Vayer and others also called on Froome to release a rating of his maximum aerobic capacity, a figure more commonly known as VO2 max.
At the time, Froome said he did not know the number because he had not undergone a test to determine it for several years.
Team Sky spokesman Rob Jorgensen said the new tests, which were conducted at a sports medicine lab in London owned by British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline, and their release had nothing to do with the team.
According to the article in Esquire, they were arranged by Froome’s wife, Michelle, and conducted during the summer.
On two key measures, Froome produced exceptionally high results.
Adjusted for his weight during this year’s Tour de France, Froome’s VO2 max was 88.2. According to the lab, it measures 34 to 40 for most people.
The magazine also published the results of tests on Froome made in 2007, when he weighed more, a factor which would decrease the count. That test set his maximum aerobic capacity at 80.2.
GlaxoSmithKline Human Performance Lab spokesman Charlie Rose said that none of the scientists involved in the test were available for interviews.
He added that the lab planned to submit the results in a peer-reviewed journal, but that both the journal and the timing of any paper had yet to be determined.
Phillip Bell, one of the scientists who measured Froome, told Esquire that “Froome’s values are close to what we believe are the upper limits for VO2 peak in humans.”
Jeroen Swart, a South African sports physician interviewed by Esquire, said that the relative consistency between the recent test and the one from 2007, when Froome was not a leading cyclist and weighed about 8kg more, suggests that Froome’s rise to the top was natural.
“The engine was there all along,” Swart told the magazine. “He just lost the fat.”
In the tests, Froome also produced exceptionally high levels of power. His maximum output was 525 watts (W), or 7.51W for each kilogram of his weight, what Swart called “a massive figure.”
Froome was able to produce a sustained power level of 419W or 6.25W/kg, also a large figure.
According to Vayer’s scale for analyzing riders’ performances, both figures would be suspicious, but Swart told the magazine that he rejected that assessment.
On Thursday, before the results had been released, Vayer dismissed the tests, calling them “advertising.”
“He followed the rules; Lance, did too,” Vayer said. “What are the rules? Not be caught. It is their rules. Not pure sport rules.”
Team Sky did not make Froome or anyone from the team available for comment after the article’s publication.
During an interview with the magazine, Froome seemed weary about the need to dispute the doping allegations.
“I can understand where the questions are coming from,” he is quoted as saying. “Questions do need to be asked. As long as the questions are fair, I am happy to answer them. What gets my back up is when those questions turn into straightforward accusations.”
He added: “I know my results will stand the test of time, that 10, 15 years down the line people will not say: ‘Ah, so that was his secret.’ There is not a secret.”
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