Chris Froome’s fight to clear his name is set to become a high-stakes battle with the World Anti-Doping Agency after a new study claimed that the test for asthma medication is “fundamentally flawed”.

The research paper, published last week in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, is understood to highlight a key plank of Froome’s defence – that Wada’s test for salbutamol is unreliable and needs to be overhauled.

Froome faces a possible ban and the prospect of being stripped of his La Vuelta title after a urine sample showed an extraordinarily high amount of the asthma medication, above the allowed limit. Chasing a third successive grand tour victory at the Giro d’Italia, the Team Sky rider has continued to protest his innocence.

Froome is set to use a new scientific study in his defence of an adverse analytical finding at last year’s Vuelta LUK BENIES/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

His legal