Chris Froome releases performance and blood data to satisfy Tour de France doubters
Chris Froome hopes doubts over his two Tour de France wins can be put to rest after releasing physiological data which suggests his success in recent years can be attributed to weight loss.
Three sets of data, from 2007, this year's Tour and independent tests in August have been published in this month's edition of Esquire.
The tests reveal Froome's VO2 Max – a measure of the maximum oxygen an athlete can use – is consistent between 2007 and the present day.
Read more: Froome hits out at UCI for risking reputations with lack of testing
"Hopefully it's going to satisfy some of the questions asked," said Froome.
"I know what I've done to get here. I'm the only one who can really [know] 100 per cent that I'm clean. I haven't broken the rules. I haven't cheated. I haven't taken any secret substance that isn't known of yet.
"I know my results will stand the test of time, that 10, 15 years down the line people won't say, 'Ah, so that was his secret'."
Froome's transformation from a relatively unremarkable rider into Tour de France champion could be attributed to his weight loss, from 75.6kg to 67kg, and a 10 per cent increase in his power to weight ratio which would help him on some of the Tour's mountain stages.
The Kenya-born cyclist has been dogged with suggestions his success was not clean.
On this year's Tour he faced a hostile reception from fans, including being spat at and having urine thrown at him.
The speculation surrounding Froome prompted Team Sky to release power data on their rider during the race – data supported by a VO2 Max of 84.6 litres per kilo of body weight revealed in independent tests conducted at the GSK Human Performance laboratory in London.