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Cycling News is reporting that the Spanish Cycling Federation has suspended three-time, now two-time, Tour de France winner Alberto Contador for one year.

Tour de France champion Alberto Contador has reportedly tested positive for a banned substance, according to multiple reports. The three-time champion reportedly tested positive on July 21, just days before he won the 2010 title. He has blamed contaminated food. If true, he would be the second rider to win the race and later be found to have failed a drug test. Floyd Landis did so in 2006.

A spokesman for three-time Tour de France winner Alberto Contador says the cyclist tested positive for a banned steroid during this year's race. Contador's publicist released a statement Wednesday saying the substance, identified as clenbuterol, was found in a test taken on July 21. Contador has blamed food contamination as the only possible explanation for the positive test.

I struggled with what to write about the finale of this year’s Tour de France. Even though the Tour lasts for the better part of the month, when it ends, I always feel like it went by too fast. I love the spring classics season but they are just one individual day of drama compared to the saga that is the Tour. The Giro is like the kid brother and does little more than to prime the appetite for what’s to come in a few weeks. Of course there’s the Vuelta but if the Giro is the kid brother, the...

Mark Cavendish significantly closed the gap in the points competition with an emphatic win in today’s stage 18 in Bordeaux. Without his lead out man Mark Renshaw to deliver him to the finish; Cavendish deftly maneuvered from wheel to wheel in the last kilometer. Team Sky was dominating the front when they crossed under the 1 kilometer banner with Cavendish sitting in eighth position. Then Cervelo broke through, guiding points leader Thor Hushovd to the front. Cavendish quickly jumped on his wheel with Allesandro Petacchi behind him. Petacchi jumped first and this proved to be his undoing. Cavendish followed Petacchi...

Andy Schleck and his Saxo Bank teammates threw everything they had at Alberto Contador but despite their best efforts the Spaniard was up to the task. It was a classic stage with foul weather creating a dramatic backdrop for the battle that ensued. One by one Saxo threw the gauntlet down. First Cancellara took his turn on the front and blew the field apart, followed by Nicki Sorenson who reduced the field even further, and then Schleck launched his attack. Only Contador was able to respond to the massive acceleration setting up a mano-a-mano fight to the finish. The two...

In what will certainly be debated for some time, Alberto Contador attacked race leader and his biggest rival Andy Schleck when Schleck threw his chain on the climb up Port de Bales. Schleck ended up loosing 39 seconds to Contador on the day, as well as his yellow jersey, and possibly the Tour de France. There is an unwritten rule in cycling that you don’t attack the race leader because of a mechanical problem. Everyone remembers the 2003 Tour when Tyler Hamilton slowed the GC favorites group down when Armstrong crashed on the climb up Luz Ardiden and then went...

Alberto Contador took a few swings at rival Andy Schleck on the ascent of the Ax-3 Domaines but was unable to crack the Luxembourger. At one point the two were practically doing track stands on the day’s final climb while their rivals Dennis Menchov and Sammy Sanchez sped away. The two overall leaders were not overly concerned with Menchov and Sanchez since they are more than two minutes behind on the General Classification. After the stage Schleck said tomorrow’s stage over the Port be Bales is more suited to his strengths and that he might take some chances tomorrow. I...

Saturday’s Stage 7 proved to be anticlimactic as Lance Armstrong, Alberto Contador, and the other General Classification contenders played their cards close to their vest’s in anticipation of the drama that is sure to unfold on the slopes of Morzine tomorrow. The select group of favorites finished 1:47 down on Sylvain Chavanel who attacked out of the group and soloed to victory taking his second stage of this year’s Tour. Chavanel moves back into yellow as race leader Fabian Cancellara finished more than 14 minutes in arrears. The overall GC began to sort itself out as Cadel Evans moves into...

Good morning. Nothing too notable this morning other than a dog running onto the course which cause a crash early on. Several riders have been rotating back to get medical treatment including Ivan Basso and David Millar. We have a 3 man break that includes Lars Boom (Rabobank), Maarten Wijnants (QuickStep) and Alan Perez Lezaun (Euskaltel) with a gap of just over 4 minutes. There’s still about 100K or 60 miles remaining. Neither the peloton or the break is working very hard but this is just the calm before the storm. Unfortunately the two riders that crashed yesterday, Mathias Frank...

With the exit of Quick Step’s Tom Boonen the race now becomes one of attrition. Personally I think five riders: Mark Cavendish, the god of thunder and last years winner Thor Hushovd, Tyler Farrar, Edvald Boasson Hagen, and Gerald Ciolek have a realistic chance of surviving over the course of 3,642 kilometers (2,263 miles for us non Euros). Mark Cavendish is the odds maker’s pick but the man from the Isle of Manx has been off his game this year. It will be interesting to see if his horrific crash with Heinrich Haussler has affected his training leading up to...