Contador suspended for two years

The world of cycling has been rocked with three times Tour de France winner Alberto Contador banned for two years by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) following a doping offense during the 2010 Tour.

Spanish rider Contador will now be stripped off his 2010 Tour title as well as 2011 Giro d’Italia as well as other road cycling events.

The CAS also announced that the ban will be over on August 5^th meaning that he will miss this year’s race as well as the 2012 London Olympics.

Contador tested positive to banned anabolic agent clenbuterol during the 2010 Tour de France but was subsequently cleared by the Spanish Cycling Foundation (RFEC) in February of 2011.

However that decision prompted the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the International Cycling Union (ICU) to appeal the RFEC decision to CAS.

Contador, 29 insisted the he had ingested the banned substance by eating a contaminated steak, an explanation which was brought by the RFEC but not the WADA and ICU.

“CAS has partially upheld the appeals filed by WADA and the UCI and has found Alberto Contador guilty of a doping offence,” the CAS said in an official statement on Monday.

“As a consequence, Alberto Contador is sanctioned with a two-year period of ineligibility starting retroactively on 25 January 2011, minus the period of the provisional suspension served in 2010-2011 (5 months and 19 days). The suspension should therefore come to an end on 5 August 2012.”

The CAS also added that the “presence of clenbuterol was more likely caused by the ingestion of a contaminated food supplement” than by the contaminated meat as claimed by the Spaniard.

ICU President Pat McQuaid said that it was a ‘sad day’ for the sport of cycling as Contador now has 30 days to lodge an appeal with the Swiss Federal Court.

“This is a sad day for our sport. Some may think of it as a victory, but that is not at all the case,” exclaimed McQuaid.

“There are no winners when it comes to the issue of doping – every case, irrespective of its characteristics, is always a case too many.”

The outcome means that Andy Schleck, the runner-up in that tour is now the official winner of the 2010 Tour de France but the Luxembourg rider was in no mood to celebrate after the CAS handed down their findings.

“There is no reason to be happy now. First of all I feel sad for Alberto. I always believed in his innocence. This is just a very sad day for cycling,” said Schleck.

“If now I am declared overall winner of the 2010 Tour de France it will not make me happy. I battled with Contador in that race and I lost. My goal is to win the Tour de France in a sporting way, being the best of all competitors, not in court. If I succeed this year, I will consider it as my first Tour victory.”

Contador did not comment and despite earlier claims that he would retire from the sport if found guilty and suspended his brother and agent, Francisco Contador insisted those threats would not become a reality.

“Alberto is clear about that, and he will not quit cycling,” Francisco Contador was quoted as saying.