Tour de France - Contador may appeal after 'dreams collapse'
Alberto Contador made an emotional appearance at a live press conference to assert that he is innocent of doping, and confirm that he may yet appeal the CAS decision that saw him handed a two-year ban and lose his 2010 Tour de France title.
The Spanish rider was retroactively banned for two years and stripped of his 2010 Tour de France title after the decision on Monday, which came following an 18-month legal saga following his positive test for clenbuterol after the 2010 Tour.
But the Saxo Bank star insists that he has done nothing wrong, and that a contaminated food caused his positive test result.
"My dreams have collapsed," said Contador. "There's not been one morning that I haven't asked myself how I got into this situation. It's been a hard year. I wouldn't wish a year like this on anyone.
"Everybody has been saying that I'm guilty of something that's against my own moral standpoint. My feeling of injustice is terrible... Throughout all these months I've done everything possible to show that I was innocent. I've written it all down, gone through everything, spent hours and hours answering the questions they've put to me.
"As I said to CAS at the recent hearing, if there's anything more I could have said to show that I'm innocent then tell me what it is.
"I do feel a strange satisfaction in that at least it is all over... I feel it is particularly hard on me because the amount of clenbuterol was so small it would never change my performance."
The 29-year-old added that he is considering an appeal against the CAS's sentence.
"My lawyers are examining the possibilities and as I have said before we have to fight to the end," a grim-faced Contador said when asked if he would appeal Lausanne-based CAS's decision in the Swiss federal court, which he must do within 30 days.
"With the sentence in my hand, the sensation I still feel is that I am innocent. I did not dope myself."
Contador also confirmed that he is to carry on riding, despite rumours that he could walk away from the sport if the CAS decision went against him.
"I will continue in cycling. I will continue to do so in a clean way as I have all my life. And I know that will make me stronger in the future."
The Spanish Cycling Federation initially proposed a one-year sanction for Contador after he tested positive for the banned anabolic agent clenbuterol, which he blamed on eating contaminated meat.
The RFEC subsequently overturned the ban, clearing the way for the rider to return to competition but prompting an appeal to CAS by the International Cycling Union and the World Anti-Doping Agency.
WADA president John Fahey told Reuters that Contador was a "doping cheat" and said the agency had had no choice but to appeal to CAS after the RFEC exonerated the rider.
Tour winner in 2007, 2009 and 2010 and regarded as one of the greatest cyclists of his generation, Contador also faces losing his 2011 Giro d'Italia title and all his other victories last season.
He will also not be able to take part in either the 2012 Tour or the London Olympic Games.
Saxo Bank team manager Bjarne Riis said his team and their sponsors fully supported Contador and that he hoped to continue working with him.
However, he said Contador's contract would be "suspended" for the duration of the ban.
"We have as a team chosen to support Alberto 100 per cent and give him the fullest support until things will prove that it should be different," Riis said.
"We can only respect the (CAS) ruling and this means that Alberto Contador now has to serve a ban.
"But the conclusion of the ruling is vital for the team, as the ruling focuses on the likely cause being ingestion of a contaminated supplement and at the same time states that this is unlikely to have been a case of conscious cheating."
Comment 61 - 80 of 80
Let him appeal, then, when he loses it..give him an extra 12 month ban. That way at least he'll serve more than 6 months of 2 year ban.
Let's see Contawhiner whine his way out of this one.
About time this team poison pill got what was due him.
Hey John #79; Simple answer. His masking agents were not as good as others that passed the test. Contadope needed better chemists.
Will someone explain why he should be banned for such a small amount of clenbuterol well below the normal action level and how does CAS think that such an amount could have made a difference to his performance?
Of course, improper use of drugs should give rise to a ban but the discovery of trace amounts which could be ingested from food supplies should be subject to warnings rather than bans.
He was lucky he's returning in August, can win la Vuelta, but in the limit, he's guilty for being stupid, an athlete is 100% responsible for what ever is in their body
Quote from this article; "With the sentence in my hand, the sensation I still feel is that I am innocent. I did not dope myself." ~Alberto Contador
Of course not Alberto, somebody else injected you while you sat there.
@Max, these are some infos that I got from swed cycling news ( people that I trust , they are not pro or against Armstrong)
Jeff Novitzky, a tough guy who played a major role in Mario Jones case, has tried a lot of things. Some of the things he did- to try to get some evidence.....
A#- Italy- Novitzky investigated Michele Ferrari -Armstrong relation, who said what, who did what, who knew what, the other people involved etc...
B#- They searched every inch of Jaroslav popovitj apt in Italy, took his computer and other things hoping to get something, investigated him in USA
C#- He did a lot of work to try to get some evidence from LANDIS- HAMILTON stories.....
D#- Novitzky got a lot of help from Interpol, and he investigated swiss accounts....
The word is, he spend a lot of money and energy but didnt get what he was looking for...
Like you said, Armstrong is not off the hook yet . But there is 8 yrs period of limitation, so there is NOT much they can do against Armstrong ACCORDING to swedish cycling news. They are saying it is very unlikely
And just EXACTLY HOW did he know for fact that the beef was contaminated in the first place? Did the lab results show the contamination? I think not. Where is the additional samples of beef from Spain showing this contamination? If he could produce beef that is tainted, then he might have a case.
Yeah, He lied.
SO NOW THE SPORT OF CYCLING IS COMPLETELY CLEAN AND THE NEXT Tour de France is not anther FARCE.
UCI= WITCH HUNTERS. WADA+ WITCH HUNTERS. Politically Correct.
UCI and WADA are witch hunters. Just up for own glory. Contador is easy.
Apologies Pantommy.
chem- all points well taken. Armstrong is not off the hook yet. WADA is circling around the grand jury evidence like the Salem witch hunters or the paparazzi around Prncess Diana. Plus the lawyers in the case are claiming they didn't make the judgement to cancel the charges. That order came from 'above'.
In the terms set this next Tour de France will be another FARCE.
No one is any better off after this latest outcome.
All sport claims tobe against drugs in sport and dope takers.
Words don't amount to much without consistant action to back it up.
There is little or no downside to taking performance enhancing drugs in sport today.
If the sporting governing bodies of which there are too many, decide to continue their light touch regulation of their chosen sport.
The result is that the athlete becomes too high profile and too wealthy to bring down.
Top lawers exploit loopholes and the sport suffers.
I would like to see a day when an athlete can be proven as a cheat 100% without doubt, and then expelled from the sport in question.
ie. you have cheated! leave cycling for ever! Choose another sport! Next?
Get tough is the only message that will get through.
Otherwise how many chances do we give athletes to get it right?
1st offence, 2nd offence (shame on you), 3rd offence (now ur taking the piss).
The amount in question is a 40th of what labs are suposed to detect, and most people agree it is imossible to self-administer such a small amout!
Personaly I think Contador should not be banned but "have his card marked"
Any calling Spain the new East Germany is just a gloating, miss-guided flag waver!
We all hate drug cheats, we must beware of witch hunts!
You people calling Armstrong a doper are techically comitting libel (you have no proof)
@Arkady
Lance is not caught, because he give UCI and Wada money. That is sure. Lance have big suport from USA goverment, like every athlete from USA. I just cant believe, 3 guys said that he use dope, they see him how put PEDs in his system. 2 from those 3 guys is doper (Landis and Tyler) but that 3rd guy is not, and he have lot of respect from Peloton guys. So Lance is one word is stronger then word of three guys. Lance is for sure use EPO 1999, like every rider.
It's just stupid not letting him to compete in TdF 2012 and the olympics. He may be a cheat but he is also one of the best riders now.
Like the Italians and USA before, it's now the turn of the Spanish athletes to be targetted by the UCI, WADA et al and their petty witchhunts. And it's not just cycling. A certain tennis player is currently being targetted by the cynics; we all know the acusatory credentials of L'equipe. But before all you sceptics out there continue your gloating against the Spanish athletes and their controlling bodies, the turn of other countries will soon come about once everyone has got bored with Spain. We've seen it before and we'll see it again. Next time it could be a well known top British team; what a scoop that could be for the media and suddenly you've got those cheating Brits, or whoever, God forbid. Like I said before, quit the gloating, use some intelligence and look at things rationally. In the meantime, enjoy the sport; any sport.
So andy schleck says alberto is innocent, yet he accepts the 2010 tour de france jersey which he has inherited by default, wouldn't it have been better, andy, to have backed your alberto is innocent, by refusing to accept the jersey, but then again this is the same andy schleck whom ressembled a spoilt brat, that day his chain came off and contador attacked him, many cried foul, but was it? do formula one drivers stop and wait for a leader to get a puncture mended or when a football team gets a player sent off, does the opposition then take a player off to level it out? of course not, and that sums andy schleck up, scheck will be remembered for never winning the tour de france but for coming second. To be labelled a dope cheat by wada's mr fahey is libellous in my view and if contador was such a cheat, then how did he win the giro in such convincing fashion with no positive drug tests. this whole mess is nothing more than a witch hunt to destroy a class rider. Show em all in la vuelta, contador and when you win next years tour de france, refuse to shake pat mcquaid's hand. Contador is Innocent.... FULL STOP!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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