ASO would be "not inviting" him, right? I don't understand how it can be restraint of trade if you are simply not inviting someone to a particular (invitation only) event.
No. First, ASO has to invite all UCI World Tour teams. Second, if they invite other teams, it’s teams rather than riders. The teams choose who to send. Third, they can ban any individual they like as they did with Boonen in 2009 over his cocaine habit until he or Quick-Step started legal proceedings for discrimination as Froome would do too.
A private hotel can also ban anyone they like but if their reason is that they don’t like the look of someone’s face, they’ll rightly expose themselves to expensive legal trouble.
Also, I don't understand why whether or not Froome is invited to the Tour is under the Giro 2018 topic.
It shouldn’t be, but Flatus turns every thread on racing (and many
besides) into tireless invective against Sky and all who disagree with his crude tropes. Letting that slide every time proves that bullying works and lowers the tone of the whole forum. In the absence of effective forum moderation, someone has to stand up to his hectoring, regardless of whether Froome found a one-time permanent doping method seven years ago or not. I am all for robust debate as my post history shows, but we shouldn’t tolerate a playground slanging match every time we disagree … or indeed any time we disagree.
That’s all I have to say on the matter until new facts emerge. Going back to the Giro, here are three interesting titbits on the race:
INRNG’s commentary, insightful as always and with intelligent reader comments.
Lance Armstrong’s analysis of Froome’s big attack on Stage 19.
Something about power but more interestingly a video of Sky’s Portal talking Froome through the curves on the descent. Did Dumoulin benefit from a similar team effort? Probably not. This may have had something to do with Froome’s success.
Did you know that Froome was the
only Giro contender to recon the Zoncolan? The other teams thought Google Maps would do. This may have had something to do with his success.