Madrid
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has ruled that cycling wonder boy Alberto Contador did dope during the 2010 Tour de France in which he was hailed as the victor. This was the Tour that saw Andy Schleck edged out by seconds after the three week long race.
Contador has maintained that he ate beef tainted with the performance enhancing steroid clenbuterol. The steroid is allowed in some countries to ‘beef up’ animals slated for slaughter. He will be allowed to appeal the decision.
In addition to losing the title to Schleck, Contador will be banned from the Giro d’Italia, the Tour de France, and the London Olympics.
Andy Schleck will now be declared the winner of the 2010 TDF. He was the heartbreak favourite to win that year when his brother had to retire because of injuries. Schleck was in the lead in the final stages of the race but suffered a mechanical incident where his chain came off and he lost precious seconds when Contador attacked. Schleck lost the TDF by those same seconds. The crowds booed Contador for his poor sportsmanship in attacking when a fellow rider had mechanical difficulties.
Contador was a team mate of Lance Armstrong who was returning from retirement for another try at the top prize in cycling. That year Armstrong came in second to Contador and many felt that the cocky Spaniard rode his own race rather than respect the team aspect of the endurance competition.
For those who have been long-time fans of Lance Armstrong, and have been following the drama swirling around doping, it comes as very good news that the US Feds have dropped their two year investigation into whether the cyclist and humanitarian doped during his cycling career.
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