Froome had twice the permissible amount of asthma medication Salbutamol in his system during the Grand Tour race which he won in September, the UCI and his team revealed today.
"I understand this comes as a big shock to people," Froome said in an interview with the BBC published yesterday.
"I certainly haven't broken any rules here."
Cycling's governing body UCI said an anti-doping test on September 7 showed more than the allowable level of Salbutamol which can be taken without needing a therapeutic use exemption (TUE).
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"I have been a professional cyclist now, treating my symptoms and racing with asthma, for 10 years," said Froome.
"I know what those rules are, I know what those limits are and I have never been over those limits."
The UCI has asked Froome to provide more information but in line with World Anti-Doping Agency guidelines has not suspended him.
"I have got a very clear routine when I use my inhaler and how many times. I have given all that information to the UCI to help get to the bottom of it." He added the UCI was "absolutely right" to scrutinise the test results.
Sky said Froome had declared his use of the medication, adding: "The notification of the test finding does not mean that any rule has been broken."
The British rider, who also won Olympic time-trial bronze medals in 2012 and 2016, was notified of the test on September 20, the day he finished third in the world time-trial championship in Bergen, Norway.
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Unipublic, the company that runs the Vuelta, refused Wednesday to take a negative stance on Froome saying they were waiting for the UCI to finish their probe before deciding whether to take any action against their champion.
"Our position is one of extreme prudence, and it is our hope that the matter will be resolved swiftly," Unipublic said yesterday.
Froome won the Vuelta September 10, 2017 finishing 2min 15sec clear of Vicenzo Nibali, who was saddened by the news.
"If this positive test is confirmed it will not feel as if I climbed onto the highest step of the podium to be declared champion in Madrid," said the 2014 Tour de France winner.
Froome, widely considered the greatest Tour rider of his generation, is scheduled to race the Giro d'Italia in May 2018 ahead of defending his Tour de France title in July 2018.
Sky's aim for next year was to have Froome enter a clique of riders who held all three Grand Tour titles at the same time, and for him to clinch a record equalling fifth Tour de France after his victories in 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2017.
Wiggins and Sky have repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, saying the drug was prescribed to treat a longstanding pollen allergy.
In 2008 Italian sprinter Alessandro Petacchi was given a 12-month ban and stripped of five stage wins in the 2007 Giro d'Italia despite having a TUE for Salbutamol, having also exceeded the limit.
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