Alberto Contador Has Tour de France Title Taken Away
Alberto Contador, of Spain, had his 2010 Tour de France title taken away and was also banned by racing officials for two years, it was announced Monday.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport, the highest authority on international sport competition, suspended the three-time Tour de France champion after denying his appeal that his positive test for clenbuterol after the Tour de France in 2010 was caused by eating contaminated meat bought from a local butcher.
The court, a three-man panel, upheld appeals by the International Cycling Union and World Anti-Doping Agency that challenged a Spanish cycling tribunal's decision last year to exonerate Contador.
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"The presence of clenbuterol was more likely caused by the ingestion of a contaminated food supplement," CAS said in its ruling in Lausanne, Switzerland.
But all is not lost for the Spaniard. The CAS backdated Contador's ban which means that he would be eligible for competition starting on Aug. 6.
The ban would make Contador miss the Giro d'Italia, the Tour de France and the London Olympics. He would be able to compete in the Spanish Vuelta, which starts on Aug. 18.
Contador is only the second Tour de France champion to have his title stripped away after testing positive for a banned substance. The first was American Floyd Landis who lost his title in 2006 after testing positive for testosterone.
Andy Schleck of Luxembourg finished second in the Tour de France in 2010 Tour and will likely be named the new champion.
Contador, who has continued to compete in events since testing positive, will most likely have all of his results stricken from record including his Giro d'Italia victory in 2011.
Contador is one of only five cyclists to win the three Grand Tours; Tour de France, Giro d'italia and the Spanish Vuelta. He won the Tour de France in 2007 and 2009.
