Contador receives one year ban – stripped of 2010 Tour title

http://toddkinsey.wordpress.com/2011/01/26/contador-receives-one-year-ban-stripped-of-2010-tour-title/ ^

[Todd Kinsey]

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.

[irishtenor]

Ping!!!

[deport]

FYI

[WILLIALAL]

It just amazes me that this sport has allowed this drug issue to continually tarnish itself. Its getting to the point that it will be considered in the same league as the WWE.

[doorgunner69]

Gee, what a surprise, following on the heels of SI’s hit piece on Armstrong..................

[runninglips]

Drugs, hormone treatments, they all should be legal and encouraged if they do little harm. I thought sports were supposed to be about the evolution of the athlete, the constant striving to be the best that one can be. Steroids, when used under a doctors supervision, are a godsend. Bio-identical hormones can lengthen both the peak years of athleticism and lives. What is more important, the sanctity of records or the betterment of mankind? Under the current rules of nearly every sport, a substance that would do no harm, make a person stronger, faster and more durable, while giving longer life to the user, would be banned. This is like making mechanics work without wrenches in NASCAR.

[Ready4Freddy]

Thank you, deport.

[longjack]

Thanks, deport.

I just read the report about this in Germany's Kicker Sport Magazin

Contador was tested positive for a small amount of Clenbuterol, an anabolic steroid.

He was only given a one year suspension rather than the customary two because of the low amount.

Kicker says nothing is official yet regarding being stripped of the 2010 tour titel (meaning Andy Schleck would be the winner) because Contador will appeal it as far as he can. Probably nothing official re: stripping of tour title until February for now, and most likely longer if Contador appeals as is suspected.

Contador claims he picked it up from a steak he got from a Spanish farm. The article says that farm was tested and no Clenbuterol was found in the animal feed there.

SaxoBank and Barne Riis are holding a press conference tomorrow to discuss the situation.

Kicker's info was above. My theory is below and it has nothing whatever to do with what Kicker wrote because they didn't even breach the subject.

My guess is, if he is guilty as charged, is that he was using Clenbuterol to keep his weight low. Clenbuterol is a fat burner. The best climbers have a low weight to height ratio, IIRC. IOW, there seems to be a sweet spot in the ratio between body frame size and weight that accentuates climbing ability. There was no EPO involved. This is just a wild guess on my part, however, and may be completely wrong.

[Logic n' Reason]

Drugs, hormone treatments, they all should be legal and encouraged if they do little harm. I thought sports were supposed to be about the evolution of the athlete, the constant striving to be the best that one can be. Steroids, when used under a doctors supervision, are a godsend. Bio-identical hormones can lengthen both the peak years of athleticism and lives. What is more important, the sanctity of records or the betterment of mankind? Under the current rules of nearly every sport, a substance that would do no harm, make a person stronger, faster and more durable, while giving longer life to the user, would be banned. This is like making mechanics work without wrenches in NASCAR.

Wow! I've not heard this argument before!! I suppose the key phrase...or maybe word is "do little harm" or "little".

It then would seem that all these products do "some" harm. And...who determines OBJECTIVELY what "little" means and what "harm" means?

Is a breakfast of Cheerios with 2% milk doing "little harm"??

I'm just not sure - given the medical community's inability to be very objectively specific about much - if anyone is qualified at this point to provide specific, follow-able rules regarding taking something that does "little harm". And of course, there is the issue of "short term little harm" and "long term little harm".

But a great post nonetheless...thanks!

[green iguana]

Go Andy Schleck!

[Baynative]

"I suppose the key phrase...or maybe word is "do little harm" or "little"."

I take it a step further by not really giving much credit to the argument of harm.

Sports is entertainment. Fans want to see records broken and competition go to levels they could only dream of. Entertainers who are willing to sacrifice themselves for fame and fortune have the right to do so in my opinion. They know the chances they are taking and most will choose glory over health.

This is pro sport, not amateur , not that it makes any difference since amateur sports are being ruined too. That toothpaste was out of the tube when the Olympics went pro. Pro sports and pro entertainment are one and the same.

When are we going to tell Angelina Jolie to stop stuffing her lips with botox? - It all seems the same to me.

[nutmeg]

Wow... you've got to be kidding me! So now Andy Schleck is the 2010 TDF winner.

I'm starting to wonder why I bother to watch the Tour de France anymore...

[Baynative]

One day after the news leaked that Alberto Contador would be handed a one year suspension for testing positive for Clenbuterol, the rider who looks set to be handed the Tour de France title has said that he believes his rival still won the race. Andy Schleck finished 39 seconds behind the Spaniard and in his mind, it appears that he still considers that outcome to be the correct one.

“For me Alberto is the winner of the 2010 Tour,” he said, "i> “I would love to win the race for real.”

Read more: < a href= http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/7228/Schleck-says-that-for-him-Contador-remains-winner-of-the-2010-Tour.aspx#ixzz1CGCFyLAZ>HERE

Well, we can at least say Andy is the winner for now. There are probably caravans of mobile drug test labs heading for his house right now.

[Sir_Ed]

So Schleck’s the winner now?

Good, he’s a great rider and a good guy.

Ed

[tahoeblue]

If he doped last year, why are we to believe that any of his TdF victories were clean? His riding style and aggressiveness changed little over the course of the past five years.

A little surprised that we didn't hear of extensive testing of samples from previous tours to find plastic residues in the samples.

Makes you wonder how the tour would have turned out two years ago if Contador wasn't there to attack his teammates.

Andy seems like a really decent guy. Hope the new team can support him since his old team decided that Contador was more important then all of their other great riders.

[Mr. Blonde]

At least Contador actually failed a drug test.

[Todd Kinsey]

Good point on the Tour two years ago. The pessimist in me is beginning to wonder if any of these guys are clean.