Chris Froome in line to win 2011 Vuelta a Espana while in intensive care as Juan Jose Cobo stripped for doping

Froome is currently in intensive care in St Etienne after suffering a serious crash during a reconnaissance ride at the Criterium du Dauphine which left him with a fractured femur, elbow and ribs

Bradley Wiggins, Juan Jose Cobo and Chris Froome on the Vuelta podium (Getty)

Chris Froome is in line to be awarded victory in the 2011 Vuelta a Espana, subject to an appeal, after the original winner Juan Jose Cobo was found to have broken anti-doping rules by the UCI.

Froome is currently in intensive care in St Etienne after suffering a serious crash during a reconnaissance ride at the Criterium du Dauphine which left him with a fractured femur, elbow and ribs.

The 34-year-old, who won the Vuelta in 2017, underwent an eight-hour operation but is now conscious and is in a stable condition. “He knows there are difficult times ahead,” his surgeon said. ”That means a lot of recuperation but he’s an athlete and athletes are used to suffering.”

In 2011, the Spanish rider Cobo won his home race, which is one of cycling’s three Grand Tours along with the Tour de France and Giro d’Italia, by 13 seconds from Froome, with Froome’s then-Sky team-mate Bradley Wiggins in third.

But on Thursday, the UCI revealed that Cobo had been found guilty of historical anti-doping violations.

In a statement, the sport’s governing body said: “The Anti-Doping Tribunal found the retired rider guilty of an anti-doping rule violation (Use of a prohibited substance) based on abnormalities from 2009 and 2011 detected in his Biological Passport and imposed a three-year period of ineligibility on the rider.”

If Froome is installed as the official winner of the race, it would be his second Vuelta title and the seventh Grand Tour success of his career, matching the records of Fausto Coppi, Miguel Indurain and Alberto Contador and behind only three riders in history: Jacques Anquetil (8), Bernard Hinault (10) and Eddy Merckx (11).

No official reaction has been given by the Vuelta a Espana, which may not decide to officially change the winner of the race even if the UCI apply pressure to do so.

Cobo has one month to take an appeal against the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.