Alberto Contador Found Guilty of Doping
An appeals court ruled on Monday that Alberto Contador, a three-time winner of the Tour de France, used a performance-enhancing drug when he won the race in 2010, the latest black mark on a sport that has been tarnished 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 that Contador will be banned from racing for two years.
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 on August 5, shortly after this year’s Tour de France.
The panel also ordered that Contador, 29, of Spain, be stripped of his 2010 Tour title, which would go to the second-place finisher, Andy Schleck of Luxembourg. He will also lose all of his results from last season, including a second victory in the Giro d’Italia.
Belated congratulations to Andy Schleck. I find it amazing that Lance has remained untouchable as more and more of the top cyclists are revealed to be using performance enhancing drugs.