Contador free to race again as ban overturned

THREE-TIME Tour de France champion Alberto Contador is set to line up in the Tour of the Algarve today after the competitions committee of the Spanish Cycling Federation (RFEC) decided to overturn its decision to ban him for a year following his positive test for the banned substance clenbuterol.

The Spaniard tested positive for a minute trace of the substance during last year’s Tour de France and was banned from racing from one year from September. But he appealed the decision on the grounds he inadvertently ingested minuscule traces of it in cooked meat during the Tour’s second rest day.

According to a number of Spanish newspapers, the competitions committee decided to rethink its verdict on Friday last week based on article 296 of the UCI’s regulations, which says an athlete can be exonerated if they prove they had ‘inadvertently ingested a banned product through no fault or negligence on their part.’

Although Contador and his legal team were unable to produce a sample of the meat they claimed was tainted with the anabolic agent, the fact it could not be shown conclusively Contador had deliberately taken the product worked in his favour. The 28-year-old has always protested his innocence and even threatened to quit the sport should he be found guilty.

He stated on his personal website: “Whereas scientific advances have arrived in the year 2011, the rule remains stuck in the 60’s, hence my “crime” and possible sanction.

“Only by combining scientific advances with modifications to the anti-doping rules will it be possible to talk about honest and fair sport, as I have always practiced it.”

The International Cycling Union (UCI) and WADA retain the right to challenge the judgment and announced yesterday that they’ll consider the next course of action in the next 30 days.

The Spaniard posted a message on his twitter page last night: “Thanks a lot to everybody for your support.You all are great!!!”

Contador’s exoneration, however, has spawned much negative debate amongst the peloton with three-time Paris-Roubaix winner Tom Boonen weighing in on the argument saying: “I’m not saying that the Spaniard has done anything wrong. I just don’t know. I do know that others in the same situation have been suspended. Why not him?”