The way Chris Froome repeatedly attacked his rivals on the summit finish of the second stage of the Criterium du Dauphine left even spectators short of breath.
Froome was reduced to a wheezing wreck when giving the post-race interview – which perhaps explained the gif video that soon started doing the rounds on Twitter.
In the snippet of live action, the yellow jersey of Froome is seen surrounded by his Sky teammates on the front of the podium as he raises what appears to be an inhaler and taking a puff.
The incident happened 19 kilometres from the finish and shortly before the start of the deciding Col de Beal climb, on which Froome fought tooth and nail with Alberto Contador to secure his second successive scalp on the Dauphine.
Straight away, one curious journalist asked on Twitter whether or not Froome had a therapeutic use exemption (TUE) for his use of an asthma inhaler.
“No TUE required,” came the swift reply of Froome’s ever-defensive girlfriend, Michelle Cound. “He has asthma, hence the coughing after exertion.”
Cound’s snarky addition of the provocative hashtags “#duh” and “#trolls” were a bit much considering, first, the original tweet was more curious than accusatory, and secondly, it’s the first time in his career that Froome and asthma have been mentioned in the same breath (in a sentence unrelated to Alessandro Petacchi).
“I do have exercise-induced asthma,” Froome later clarified to diffuse the situation. “I don’t use [the inhaler] every time I race. Normally, only when I have a big effort coming up.
“It’s completely allowed by the UCI. I have done all my tests for my asthmatic problems and you don’t need a TUE for it. A lot of people see the interviews, I’m coughing afterwards. That’s one of the reasons, the narrowing of my airways.
“It’s a bit of a surprise everyone is talking about it now.”
To which I, along with many others, would retort that it’s a bit of a surprise that Froome never mentioned it before.
Sure, it’s hardly unheard of for a cyclist to have asthma: British double Olympic champion Laura Trott has fought a life-long battle with the breathing disorder, while Orica-GreenEDGE’s Matt Goss, Simon Gerrans and Brett Lancaster have all struggled with asthma issues.
It just seems odd that the heavily-scrutinised Froome would never mention his own asthmatic problems – aware as he is that, “given sports history, people are obviously looking for a reason” to be suspicious about his winning ways.
Sky have since confirmed that the 2013 Tour de France champion has been using an inhaler since he was a teenager and has in the past used the asthma drug Salbutamol, 1600 micrograms of which a rider can legally use per day according to UCI rules (one puff is roughly the equivalent of 100mg).
What is very curious is that while Froome has been very open about his previous struggles with the parasitic disease bilharzia – which hampered his progress for years – he never thought to mention his even longer struggles with asthma. Indeed, he has previously cited bilharzia as the reason behind his frequent “colds and coughs”.
Yet not once have we spotted Froome using the inhaler we have now been told he travels around with pretty much everywhere he goes. In fact, when Froome gave a rather chesty interview following his Tour de Romandie win in 2013, Michelle Cound assured her followers that her man was fit and healthy, claiming that “hard effort and cold air always makes him cough a bit.”
Cound never mentioned the asthma that, duh, might have been a better explanation.
I’m not trying to stir the pot here, merely making an observation. Clearly, if Froome was puffing on an inhaler filled with xenon gas, the last place he’d do so would be on the front of the peloton during a televised race, just moments ahead of the deciding climb.
In fact, you may say that Froome’s puff on his inhaler was so ostentatious and undisguised that it was clearly done with a view to being seen. If this is the case, why would Froome and Sky want the world to know now – and not before – he is a life-long asthma sufferer?
And why didn’t Froome mention any of this in his book?
In between his “soaring triumphs”, “humbling defeats” and countless pointed barbs directed towards teammate Bradley Wiggins, Froome talks ad nauseam about his propensity to pick up a cold; but not once did he think of mentioning that these colds could come down to asthma – something that would arguably make it even more of “a journey unlike any other in the history of cycling” that the back-page spiel claims his to be.
You also sense that somewhere David Walsh is smarting. The man who brought down Lance Armstrong has been embedded with Sky for the previous year or so and has given us what he and his publishers claim to be the “definitive story” of both Sky (Inside Team Sky) and, now, Froome.
But not once has the ghostwriter of The Climb mentioned Froome’s asthma. And that either puts a chink in Walsh’s journalistic armour, or makes it look as if both Sky and Froome were pretty keen on keeping this one under wraps. At least until Monday’s stage on the Dauphine.
Scooter Davis
Guest
Very clear explanation to keep it "secret" from his competitors because his competitors would exploit it. Just imagine if they knew they could continually attack him up demanding climbs to cause breathing problems for him. All sports keep those type of things internally. They dont broadcast to their opponents that someone has a sprained ankle or whatever.
Povl
Guest
Salbutamol (albuterol) or other beta2agonists, which is used by many athletes is proven not to have a performance enhancing effect on long term endurance performance (aerobic performace). It is well-known that oral ingested (pills) salbutamol increases sprint performance (anaerobic capacity). http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10912897 But not many studies have investigated if inhaled salbutamol could have a performance-enhancing effect on anaerobic performance (like a sprint in the end of a mountain stage). Maybe Froome and his team know that if he inhale the medicine in the end of a stage, it could improve his sprint performance (anaerobic capacity) and this is why he did this the other day and beat Contador... http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1318486
Annie Lentil
Guest
All of the conversations are interesting but we are forgetting some of the basic elements of physiology and good health. As a mere mortal who keeps fit and has lived a life with asthma there is a vast difference in what I can achieve as an athlete than that which the gods of sport are able to achieve due to years of training without ill health. You cannot ever reach your full potential as an athlete if you are crippled by bouts of asthma, you are never well and you never recover sufficiently from illness to build to your full potential. We admire and respect these supreme beings because they do not fall foul of their bodies, they are never sick, they are everything we would like to be. Puffers used by supposed life long asthma suffers at the highest pinnacle of this sport are simply and excuse to open airwaves and seek advantage under pressure with the benefit of an excuse.
HardcorePrawn
Roar Guru
Hello Nick, I'm pretty sure there are athletes in other sports that use inhalers for asthma, David Beckham being one such, very high profile asthmatic. Indurain was also said to be asthmatic, and there's a long list of swimmers that are also said to be affected. I recall hearing that swimming is regarded as a good sport to help relieve asthma, probably due to competitions usually being held in warm, damp environments!
liquorbox_
Guest
“I don’t use [the inhaler] every time I race. Normally, only when I have a big effort coming up. I have no problem with using the inhaler if required, but this statement sounds like the inhaler allows for an improved performance when an effort is required.
tourdecouch
Roar Guru
Are we still talking about this. Looks like common sense and logic hasn't wont out then
Kim
Guest
I agree, it is clearly a storm in a bloodbag, sorry glass of water. Former Flandern and Liege winner Rolf Sørensen, now danish commentator, often tells stories about his pollen allergies, well you can even hear it in transmissions, he probably took some kind of medication for it. I am sure that this is why he was good enough to win Flandern and Liege, not his admission of small time epo use. Look, you can't win the Tour with Astma inhalers, thats all, the mere thought is strange.
higgik
Guest
having suffered from this as a youth, playing squash for England, I can tell you that mostly it is when the air is very dry and pressure is felt. I used to prefer warm, humid air, like a swimming pool to train in, rather than cold winter runs. Interesting then that he didn't need it in Qatar this year.... very arid air!!!! Maybe it is a legal way of improving performance as the medication relaxes the airways so can get more air in, a bit like the peleton using tramadol for pain killers.
John Mc
Guest
Article published August 27 2013 Now in its third year, 128 riders from 31 countries on seven teams participated in the 2013 race, including 2013 Tour de France winner, British cyclist Chris Froome of Sky Procycling. But Froome didn't finish this race. He dropped out because of asthma.
Tim Renowden
Expert
I think this is a storm in a teacup - there's nothing wrong with using legal medication. Maybe he never mentioned it because it's just not a big deal for him. I don't think athletes are obliged to disclose to the public every minor medical condition. What is interesting is the number (several) of cycling journalists that have been Twitter-blocked by Froome/Cound for asking the question. Seems like there's a fair siege mentality happening over there, which I suppose is a consequence of all the speculation since Mont Ventoux, but it isn't exactly good PR. Be interesting to see what happens once the pressure cooker of the Tour really heats up. I cough after hard aerobic efforts. Maybe I should get a puffer.
Johnnyg
Guest
Why have we never seen the inhaler before or heard of the asthma before? Thats the mystery. So he only uses it when there are 'big efforts' coming up.... hmm.. did'nt need it on Ventoux in TdF, didn't need it when setting 'doper like' times on several of the climbs in last years TdF. Never seen it before. So at the bottom of each climb in the TdF now he is going to pull out his inhaler and take a deep breath as its a 'big effort'? Just enough to for him to do his 1000 rpm attack? Minimal gains says Team Sky.....
Aljay
Guest
Yes it does contain a type of steroid, but it is a catabolic steroid similar to prednisone (which I take) not an anabolic steroid. Catabolic steroids inhibit muscle growth and recovery if anything, not improve it. Nickoldschool - always wondered what it would be like if I took one of those inhalers.
Kim
Guest
There is so much suspicion, in this article that we might as well ban Froome for life. Then we could obviously watch Contador and Quintana struggle for the next few years, until Quantana takes over as Tour king. We know that Contador and Quintana are clean. It might be that Froome is the best cyclist in the world right now, but that just can't be true, right?
nickoldschool
Roar Guru
Hardcore, I recently read that many cyclists have asthma (or pretend they have asthma) hence are authorised to use certain inhalers. In my cynical mind, I do find it odd that pro cycling, which is imo the toughest sport in terms of physical endurance, would have much more ppl suffering from asthma than the general population. As an aside, when I was a teen I suffered from exercise-induced asthma and did take ventolin before football games. It felt like I had a 3rd lung. Later in my 20s when I played rugby and no longer suffered from asthma I did occasionally take ventolin before games and have to say I also felt it did make a difference, it was quite addictive I have to say.
HardcorePrawn
Roar Guru
I believe that quite a few asthma inhalers contain a small amount of steroids. Any sports people that have asthma are usually given a bit more leeway than other athletes regarding how much of these steroids they can have in their bloodstream come a drug or blood test. If Froome does have asthma I think it fairly likely that the UCI would be well aware of it.
Eden
Guest
It is odd. Curious...would a puffer help someone who didn't have asthma?
Andrew Kennard
Roar Pro
It will be interesting to see if and how other teams react. Maybe other teams could use it, a fair few attacks generally come in the mountains anyway. Might be psychological more than anything - he's a pretty good rider I guess. What an odd thing to have happened... I'm genuinely on the fence with this one. I'm 'sure' all is above board, but yet why not mention it... ever...? And then her response...? Very strange. Good article.
Hutchoman
Roar Pro
Cound by name, Hound by nature.
HardcorePrawn
Roar Guru
Agreed, it does look a bit odd, but playing devil's advocate here, might it have been kept quiet in case it could have been exploited by his rivals? I can imagine other GC hopefuls now going all out on steep climbs on cold days in an effort to invoke an asthma attack from Froome and maybe cause him to lose a bit of time.
tourdecouch
Roar Guru
I think everyone is getting caught up on the word asthma. he coughs after exercise - it's exercise induced constriction of the airways that a puffer helps - i get this irregularly and also during some colds and viruses...i don't think of myself as having asthma though but technically it is or bronchio what not. my doctor after my last infection said, do you get asthma and i'm like No. and he's like, um yeah you do. they disclosed the coughing, so what's the problem? michelle said it quickly in a tweet that he had asthma and that is probably what she meant.