Defending Giro d'Italia champion Tom Dumoulin has voiced his frustration over the "uncertainty" surrounding rival Chris Froome's asthma drug case.
Dumoulin and Froome are among the favourites to win the overall event, but the Team Sky rider is still fighting to clear his name after an adverse analytical finding for the asthma drug salbutamol last September in Spain.
"It's not good for cycling in general that it's not solved," the Dutch rider told Sky News in Jerusalem.
"Everybody is a bit uncertain. If he wins now what will happen if he gets a positive afterwards? Does he lose his Vuelta title from last year and does he also lose his Giro title?
"There's so much uncertainty, nobody benefits, also not Chris Froome. He has the right to race here, it's his choice to make. It's not up to me."
The British rider also said "there's nobody more frustrated than me" with the amount of time the regulatory process is taking.
If the UCI's anti-doping tribunal finds him guilty he could face a ban from cycling and be stripped of his 2017 Vuelta a Espana title.
The prestigious race is being held outside of Europe for the first time in its 101-year history.
Friday's first stage is a 9.7km time trial around Jerusalem, followed by two more stages in Israel before the race moves on to Italy.
The Giro ends in Rome in three weeks time where victory for Froome would see him become the first cyclist in 35 years to hold all three Grand Tour titles at the same time.