"El Pisolero" Alberto Contador during the 2011 Tour de France (photo, SaxoBank)
LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – Spain’s Alberto Contador has been suspended from cycling for two years after the CAS sports tribunal in Lausanne, TAS, found him guilty on one count of doping. The winner of the 2010 Tour de France loses his crown as a result; it should now go to Andy Schleck of Luxembourg who came in second.
Contador was accused of using clenbuterol. The rider argued that he ate steak from a Basque producer, which accounted for its presence in his system.
Clenbuterol is sometimes used by farmers, although its use is banned in Europe. The hearing was in November but the CAS issued a statement earlier saying the final decision would be delayed because media rumours about the fairness of the hearing had prompted the organization to ensure the parties all agreed to the members of the panel.
The three-member panel’s president, Efraim Barak of Israel, had refused at one point to accept testimony of an expert witness brought in by Contador’s lawyers.
The two other members of the panel are Swiss: Quentin Byrne-Sutton, a Geneva lawyer, and Ulrich Haas, a Zurich professor.
Contador is the second Tour de France winner to lose his title for doping; Floyd Landis, American, lost it in 2006 title after testing positive for testosterone.
International sports, Tour de France cycling
Paris, France (GenevaLunch) - Spanish rider Alberto Contador won his third Tour de France, 25 July, despite not taking a single stage win in the 2010 race. Andy Schleck, from Luxemburg, was 39 seconds back in second place.
Mark Cavendish confirmed his status as the fastest man on a bike with a devastating sprint finish but it was not enough to take the green jersey.
The Swiss Fabien Cancellara, won the prologue and kept the yellow shirt until the 7th stage. Canellara also won the 19th stage between Bordeux and Pauillac.
Video: How the Tour went down
Links to other sites: Le Tour de France, Telegraph
International sports, Tour de France cycling
Rotterdam, Netherlands (GenevaLunch) - Fabian Cancellara took exactly 10 minutes to gain the first yellow jersey of the 2010 Tour de France when he won the prologue by 10 seconds from German rider Tony Martin. For the Swiss rider, currently world time trial and Olympic road race champion, it was his third Tour prologue victory in the last six years. David Millar was third, with Lance Armstrong a credible fourth, 22 seconds behind the leader.
Alberto Cantador, who won the 2009 Tour, finished 27 seconds back in sixth place. Bradley Wiggins, of the newly formed Team Sky, rode in the rain and finished 56 seconds back in a disappointing 77th place.
Sunday’s race goes from Rotterdam to Brussels, a distance of 223.5 km. The 8th stage passes close by Geneva to finish in Morzine-Avoriaz, Sunday 11 July.
Le Grand Bornand, France (GenevaLunch) – Younger men are getting ahead of 37-year-old Lance Armstrong, seven-time winner of the Tour de France, who slipped into fourth place overall Wednesday 22 July as riders took on the challenge of five mountain passes. The two Schleck brothers from Luxembourg, Andy and Frank, who ride for the Saxo bank team are now behind leader Alberto Contador in the overall rankings. Armstrong could not maintain the pace but came back strongly later as he stormed up the final mountain.
Bradley Wiggins, British three time Olympic champion, started the day in third place but slipped back to sixth, although this was not clear to television spectators who were forced to watch an interview with President Sarkozy on the Tour while the riders came in.
Armstrong’s fight to win can be viewed another way, reports Minnpost:
Central France (GenevaLunch) – Isle of Man sprinter Mark Cavendish took his fourth stage win for the Columbia team and regained the sprinters’ Green Jersey. The overall lead was unchanged with Italian Rinaldo Nocentini reaining the Yellow Jersey, six seconds ahead of Astana leader Alberto Contador with teammate and rival Lance Armstrong two seconds further back. The Yellow Jersey is likely to change owner in the next few days.
Details, Le Tour de France
Central France (GenevaLunch) – Mark Cavendish won his third sprint of the 2009 Tour, ably assisted by his Columbia teammates. A group of four riders, including three French, led a break-away group but they were overhauled in the last few kilometres, setting the stage for the final sprint. When it comes to sprinting there is not much doubt about who is fastest, at least according to Cavendish:
Southern France (GenevaLunch) – The end of the first week leaves the tour very open, with two main dramas being played, one between the Astana team and the other teams and a more personal conflict between seven-time winner Lance Armstrongand his teammate, the theoretical leader of the Astana team Alberto Contador.
