Watch: Froome fights for his career after adverse finding for asthma drug

Chris Froome could miss most of next season after a urine sample he gave at this year's La Vuelta was found to contain twice the permitted concentration of asthma drug Salbutamol.

The 32-year-old Team Sky rider may also lose his victory in that race - the first by a British cyclist - and be unable to defend his Tour de France title next July or attempt to win a third straight Grand Tour title at the Giro d'Italia in May.

The adverse analytical finding occurred in a routine test after the Vuelta's 18th stage on September 7 - a day that saw Froome respond to a disappointing ride the day before by stretching his lead over rival Vincenzo Nibali on the last climb.

Conducted by the Cycling Anti-Doping Foundation, the independent body set up by the International Cycling Union (UCI), the test found the concentration of Salbutamol in Froome's urine sample was 2,000 nanograms per millilitre (ng/mL), double the World Anti-Doping Agency's (WADA) limit of 1,000 ng/mL.

Salbutamol, which is also marketed as Ventolin, is widely used by asthma sufferers, most commonly in an inhaler, to relax the muscles in the airway.

A member of the beta-2 agonist family of drugs, Salbutamol is banned by WADA...