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Midi-Pyrenees Feature : Tour de France and Contador
The Contador saga
As far as the sport of professional cycling is concerned, is it a case of one step forward and two steps back ? Or are we looking at two steps forward and one step back ? Who knows, because the story might still run and run right through the summer up until the 2012 Tour de France and the London Olympics.
The story so far…..
Alberto Contador, winner of the 2010 Tour de France ahead of Andy Schleck of Luxembourg, has been stripped of his title after being found guilty of taking clenbuterol, a prohibited substance. The news made headlines around the world. The result was expected in many quarters. Contador claimed that the substance had entered his system as a result of eating contaminated meat.
Contador has been handed a 2 year ban although, because of a ruling that his ban will operate from the date of the positive result, this will run out in August 2012. However this means that he will miss the London Olympics and the 2012 Tour de France. At a partisan press conference in Spain during which the crowd chanted his name, he stated that it was a ‘terrible injustice’ and that he would fight the decision. A further appeal is expected. He has also been stripped of his win in the Giro d’Italia race and Andy Schleck has now been awarded the title win for the 2010 Tour de France.
John Fahy, the Head of the World Anti-Doping Agency, said ‘This is a good day for all clean athletes in the world. Contador should now be considered a cheat’. He went on to say that ‘Cycling was in denial re doping in the sport but had now moved past that. The top 800 cyclists are regularly giving blood tests’. He commended cycling for its stance but said that ‘it was no better or worse than any other sport’.
This comes in the same week that the Lance Armstrong cycling team heard that a doping probe into their team had been dropped by USA Federal prosecutors. This investigation came about following allegations from the American John Landis, a Tour de France winner and ex – teammate of Armstrong. Armstrong, winner of seven Tour de France titles has always denied being involved with illegal substances. Landis had been stripped of his 2006 Tour title following his positive drugs test following that win.
Tour de France 2010...
So…. I was there in Pau and Bordeaux in 2010 to see the tour and to admire the great athletes who had given everything to win (and in many cases, just survive) the Tour.
Did I see a great race ? Yes, I did.
Did I see a fair race ? Well, not really.
It has been confirmed that Contador did have a banned substance in his body. The real question is – how did it get there. That problem might still need a final answer through appeals procedures but, in the meantime, the official line is that it was deliberately taken by Contador.
This feature article was written by Ernest Jackson, francophile and second home owner in France who also blogs for Guide2Aquitaine regularly. To read more of Ernest's articles visit Guide2Aquitaine blog pages.
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