Tour de France organisers have formally blocked four-time champion Chris Froome from competing in this year's race, Le Monde reported yesterday, but his team promptly vowed he would be at the start line.

Team Sky said that they are confident that Froome will be riding the Tour as he has done nothing wrong. The Team Sky star has been under a cloud since he was found to have twice the permissible amount of asthma drug Salbutamol in his system during September's Vuelta a Espana, which he won.