Amid Tour de France rumours, Sky offer Froome data to WADA

In a bid to alleviate suspicions over the performance or Tour de France leader, Chris Froome, of Team Sky, the team principal Dave Brailsford on Thursday confirmed he had written to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) offering details about Chris Froome.

Reuters/Jacky Naegelen

Froome's string of stunning performances on this year's Tour, from his mountain top wins at Ax-Trois-Domaines and on Mont Ventoux to his victory in Wednesday's individual time-trial in Chorges, have led to suspicion from fans and journalists.

In the wake of the Lance Armstrong doping scandaln, they wonder if Froome is using banned performance-enhancing substances.

Brailsford said he is trying be pro-active. "Nobody asked me to do this. I suggested it would be a good idea to contact them, they didn't contact me.”

Brailsford was speaking after French sports daily L'Equipe reported on Thursday that it had received data directly from Team Sky relating to Froome's performances on 18 climbs over the last two years, from the 2011 Tour of Spain up to and including last Sunday's ascent of Mont Ventoux.

The newspaper did not publish the performance data, but said that it had been analysed by Frederic Grappe, a cycling coach who is also a researcher in sports science.

Grappe claimed that there is nothing abnormal about the Kenyan-born Briton's performances.

He declared that his Record Power Profile (PPR), that is the maximum power in watts that a rider can generate over a given period, showed nothing untoward and that his power data from the last two years is coherent with his profile.

Grappe also wrote that Froome's weight, 68kg, has barely changed over the last two years, but it was noted that his V02max, the maximum amount of oxygen an athlete can take in during exercise, has never been measured by Team Sky.

"All I know is that what we do is clean, what we do is professional, and we try to think of innovative solutions, try to be flexible, try to react, not just stick to the same old mantra," insisted Brailsford.

"I could stand here and just say: 'We've not failed any drug tests.' You've heard it all before. It's not going to get us anywhere. There is no point in going down that line. We need to be more creative."