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Contador handed two-year ban, stripped of Tour crown
After threatening to retire from cycling if he was to ever be handed a drugs ban, the future now looks uncertain for former Tour de France champion Alberto Contador.
After threatening to retire from cycling if he was to ever be handed a drugs ban, the future now looks uncertain for former Tour de France champion Alberto Contador.
Contador, a three-time winner of the world's toughest bike race, was on Monday handed a two-year ban from the sport in relation to a positive test for the banned substance clenbuterol during the 2010 edition of the race.
News of Contador's positive test came only weeks after his third yellow jersey triumph in August 2010 - after which the Spaniard threatened to quit the sport should he not be cleared of wrongdoing.
Contador's explanation that he ate a steak contaminated with clenbuterol - a substance used to help lose weight and help breathing but to also boost performance by increasing strength - was ultimately rejected by the authorities.
While Contador has been stripped of his 2010 Tour de France victory, and every other he has won since August 2010, the Court of Arbitration (CAS) said his suspension would end on August 6, 2012.
Title for Schleck
The 2010 Tour de France title will be now handed to Luxembourg's Andy Schleck, with Briton Bradley Wiggins climbing on to the podium in third place and Russian Denis Menchov finishing second.
International Cycling Union (UCI) president Pat McQuaid said: "This is a sad day for our sport. Some may think of it as a victory, but that is not at all the case. There are no winners when it comes to the issue of doping: every case, irrespective of its characteristics, is always a case too many."
Contador will therefore miss this year's Tour de France and the London Olympic Games.
