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Team Sky rider Chris Froome has urged people not to "make up their minds just yet" as he continues his bid to clear his name after an adverse analytical finding for the asthma drug salbutamol.

The five-time Grand Tour winner was speaking in Jerusalem ahead of Friday's opening Giro d'Italia stage, where he is attempting to re-write the history books and become the first cyclist in 35 years to hold the Tour de France, Vuelta a Espana and Giro titles at the same time.

"I would say to people 'don't make up your minds just yet'," the British rider, who uses an inhaler to cope with exercise-induced asthma, told Sky News.

"Wait until you have all the information," he said. "That information will come. It's a difficult situation for me to be in because it's meant to be a confidential process and there's a process in place for me to demonstrate I have done nothing wrong.

"It's not something I can give a running commentary on, the exact details, the timeline. I'm confident that when we get to the end of the case people will see it from my point of view."

Froome was found to have twice the permitted amount of salbutamol in his system after a Vuelta stage in Spain last September.

He went on to win the race.

If the 32-year-old rider can't prove his innocence he could be stripped of the Vuelta title and banned from the sport.

"I'm absolutely confident of where I am in this," he added. "I have done nothing wrong and I will demonstrate that."

The first three stages of this year's Giro d'Italia are being held in Israel, the first time the race has been staged outside Europe.

Froome, who has won cycling's Tour de France four times, could be prevented from competing for a record-equalling fifth title in July.

ASO, the French company that runs the tour, will reportedly refuse to let him race if his salbutamol case is not resolved.

World Anti-Doping Agency rules have allowed Froome to continue racing this season while his lawyers and scientists work on an explanation for his adverse sample.

But two senior cycling sources have claimed that ASO has the power to not let him race while a potential violation hangs over him.

They are reportedly confident they can resist a legal challenge from Team Sky because they have clauses in their rules allowing them to safeguard the image of the race.

The Union Cycliste Internationale, the world governing body for sports cycling, also has the power to ban Froome from the Giro d'Italia that starts on 4 May.

But the new UCI president David Lappartient said: "It's possible and it's true we have this power. But for salbutamol, it's never been done, and we have to respect the rights of Chris Froome.

"It's not possible to have specific treatment for him.

"And no other international federation has taken this decision for salbutamol."