Originally published February 6, 2012 at 7:14 PM | Page modified February 6, 2012 at 9:16 PM
Alberto Contador is stripped of 2010 Tour de France title, gets 2-year ban | Cycling
Sports' highest court ruled Spaniard Alberto Contador, who has finished first three times in the Tour de France, used a performance-enhancing drug when he won the event in 2010. Contador will be stripped of his 2010 Tour title and must serve a two-year ban.
Sports' highest court ruled Monday that Alberto Contador, who has finished first three times in the Tour de France, used a performance-enhancing drug when he won the event in 2010.
It is the latest stain on a sport that has been harmed by doping scandals over the past several years.
The decision from the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland, which overturns an earlier ruling by the Spanish cycling federation, means Contador will be banned from racing for two years.
The 29-year-old Contador stopped racing between August 2010, when the positive test was announced, and last February, when the Spanish federation issued its decision. Thus, the suspension will end Aug. 5, shortly after this year's Tour de France.
The panel also ordered Contador be stripped of his 2010 Tour title, which would go to the second-place finisher, Andy Schleck of Luxembourg.
On the last rest day of the 2010 Tour, Contador tested positive for clenbuterol, a weight-loss and muscle-building drug some riders illicitly use during the offseason to improve their performance in mountain stages.
Contador said it came from tainted steaks a friend had delivered from Spain to France.
"Unlike certain other countries, notably outside Europe, Spain is not known to have a contamination problem with clenbuterol in meat," the Court of Arbitration for Sport said in its ruling.
Contador also won the Tour in 2007 and 2009.
