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news
Alberto Contador Press Conference in Yellow © PhotoSport International.jpgAlberto Contador presents last-ditch evidence which he hopes will bolster defence
Alberto Contador, who should learn within the coming week what punishment if any is to be imposed on him by the Spanish national cycling federation following his failed test for clenbuterol in last year’s Tour de France, which the cyclist insists is due to his having eaten a contaminated steak, has presented further evidence including “new information” in a last effort to escape a ban.
The RFEC said last month that it intends to ban the former Astana rider, now with Saxo Bank-SunGard, for a year, and Contador has said that he intends to fight any ban. Talking to Spain’s Radio Nacional, as reported on the website of the Spanish sports daily Marca, the 28-year-old continued to reinforce his insistence that tainted meat lay behind the presence of clenbuterol in his urine.
Although it’s not clear exactly what new evidence has been given to RFEC ahead of its decision, Contador says that "With the documentation submitted and the two new items we've introduced there is hope that this changes matters. The rule says there must be responsibility and negligence on the part of the athlete to apply for a sanction to be applied.
“One athlete tested positive for Mexico, where they use clenbuterol on cattle, but in the European Union meat passes through controls and it is forbidden to raise livestock with this substance. I could not have believed that this meat was contaminated.”
That, Contador believes, gives him a strong enough case to demonstrate that he is free from blame, enabling him to benefit from UCI rules that can absolve a cyclist or provide for a shorter ban in certain circumstances, with the three time Tour de France winner saying, "It's the perfect case to demonstrate the absence of negligence, and if this principle is not used, none of this makes sense.”
Anti-doping rules do not set a minimum threshold when it comes to clenbuterol, meaning that even the tiniest amount of the substance is enough to return a positive test, as happened in Contador’s case, but the cyclist says he is relying on Articles 296 and 297 of the UCI’s anti-doping rules.
Article 296 provides that a ban can be eliminated “if the rider establishes… that he bears No Fault or Negligence,” although the onus is on the cyclist to “establish how the Prohibited Substance entered his system in order to have the period of Ineligibility eliminated.”
The wording of Article 297 differs and applies to cases where the rider establishes he has “No Significant Fault or Negligence,” presumably less onerous to prove than under Article 296, but which at most sees any ban only reduced by half, and again the cyclist must demonstrate how the substance came to be in his system.
Referring to how his case has progressed, Contador said, “At first it was a nightmare, and now is a feeling of disappointment. When they say a year’s ban and you see that the work you’ve done has been for nothing, you sink. But now I have hope,” he insisted, adding, “I will fight to the end.
Contador, who comes from just outside Madrid, also revealed that he had received support from Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola, who spent several years in an ultimately successful attempt to clear his name after testing positive for nandrolene while playing in Italy.
"Guardiola did not stop until he was acquitted,” said Contador. “It is a similar case to mine. It is sad that so much time went by until he proved his innocence. Now the experts know that a threshold has to be set for clenbuterol. Until we change the rules, no barriers will be established and unfair cases will be punished,” he maintained, adding that he and Guardiola had “exchanged some messages” when news of his failed test became public.
In the interview, Contador also reiterated comments made in recent days that he had changed his mind about retiring from cycling if he were banned due in part to the public support he had received, and also stated that he did not believe that he had been persecuted by the authorities.
He added he won’t touch steak again during big races for as long as he continues to be a professional cyclist.
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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44 comments
Mein gott! It seems Elfstone is a serial cutnpast-ist:
http://tinyurl.com/69o7sfv
If only I had only one rubbish opinion to place everywhere, including the Daily Heil....
LMAO - the elfstone thing is the best part of this whole story.
(and he's probably stoned)
(He's not a real elf)
hold on I had 17:30! Elfstone did his/her thing (although I'm pretty sure it's a him) at 17:34 so I was only four mins out… and okay 1 day but we never said anything about the day did we?
I feel robbed I can tell you.
Still, I'm sure we won't have too long to wait for another Contador story…
My impression is that "pistolero" will only eat meat imported from Mexico from now on !
Vuelta Espana are looking forward to the return of their HERO !
Spain is in such a slump currently that sports fans will cheer each sporting victory regardless of how it is achieved .
Should he retire i feel certain he will enter politics and become Minister for sport in time for the 2012 Olympics !
If your schwag was a close personal friend... oh wait, that's not really going to work
It's not in the post but the judge's decision is final
Where does this leave my schwag??? I hope it's already in the mail Dave????
Hoooooray! Get in Elfstone!
If Alberto Contador were a close personal friend, my friendly advice to him would be to retire from the professional cycling arena, permanently. The industry has let him down; and the federations in judgment have shown themselves to be immature lug-heads. This is not a group I'd encourage "my friend Alberto" to continue in relationship with.
That said; It occurs to me that the last many months have probably been for Contador severely emotionally draining - they certainly would have been for myself - and brimful of uncertainties; that I don't know that Alberto would be able to be in top-form, even if he'd qualified for this year's Tour.
Were I Contador, I'd welcome the respite: AND I WOULD NOT RETURN.
For purely scientific reasons... I'm going to try some... http://clenbuteroldirect.com/buyclenbuterol/product_info.php/products_id/16
Will report on the results.
Then again - some research "His electrocardiogram (ECG) demonstrated supraventricular tachycardia with a ventricular rate of 254 bpm"
Maybe not a good idea....
Sure I read a list the other day of veggie riders, can't remember where, I think from memory Sean Yates was on it (presumably in Linda McCartney days?)
Robert Millar was/is vegetarian.
Are there any vegetarians in the pro-ranks these days? Have there been first-class riders who were vegetarians? I know AC isn't giving up meat altogether, but I wonder if it is actually possible to be a vegetarian and win races?
No wonder despite his best efforts Schleck was unable to shake off Contador on the Tourmalet. Steak is a great muscle building food and when laced with a banned substance must fall into the ranks along with broccoli as a "super" food. I'm off to Mexico now to eat Chilli con carne daily till the British racing season begins.
See your
and raise you 
Well, you're the first person to correctly guess that he'd think better of the cut-and-paste game this time round, so I guess it's you
Good luck with the appeal,Alberto.
abudhabiChris - spot on. If I may continue in stating what should be obvious.
Contador has (AFAIK) always maintained that clenbuterol came from contaminated meat, and the amount found would probably bear this out as a possibly. His point seems to be that since in Europe clenbuterol isn't allowed then he could not have reasonably been expected to know the meat would be contaminated. If what he is saying is true (and there may be more going on behind the scenes than we know) then someone has been illegally importing Mexican (or another country's) meat and selling it as home grown.
It's a truly scary thought that as cyclists that we don't just have to check all our drugs through an online database we can actually still fall foul of the doping regulations.
I think it's a case of wait and see.
Spanish police broke up a clenbuterol distribution ring last year (okay, not mainland, but if it's going on in Canaries/Tenerife, it's probably getting there too):
http://road.cc/26069
As for more behind the scenes - yes, I think so, Contador said he was presenting new evidence but as far as I can tell has not actually said what that is.
Very 11th Hour, mind...
Saying that you find it hard to believe that a food stuff could contain a contaminant that makes you give a positive doping test SURELY is not proving that you were negligent? The only way to even raise the possibility of his story being true would be to do a statistical study of beef available for human consumption in the region that is contaminated with Clenbuterol. Even then this could only be put forward as circumstantial evidence that his story may have an element of truth. Seems to me his lawyers are not doing a very good job. Produce some sort of evidence, statements are never going to hold any water (are they?).
Come on Elfstone there's only 15 minutes 'til I'm out of the game… I'm counting on you here
Not worth commenting on Contador, but 19:45 on Elfstone.
I say 1845gmt, by the time he has worked through the thread and gathered himself!!! BTW I reckon it was the seasoning on the steak
If Elfstone were a close personal friend, my friendly advice to him would be to retire from the road.cc forum, permanently. The website has let him down; and the forumites in judgment have shown themselves to be immature lug-heads. This is not a group I'd encourage "my friend Elfstone" to continue in relationship with.
That said; It occurs to me that the last many months have probably been for Elfstone severely emotionally draining - they certainly would have been for myself - and brimful of uncertainties; that I don't know that Elfstone would be able to be in top-form.
Were I Elfstone, I'd welcome the respite: AND I WOULD NOT RETURN.
With all that in mind: 18:19.
It's all just theory Big Dummy no contaminated steak has been produced - unless you count the contamination in Contador's blood stream.
After a close study of the form I'm going long on this one I reckon it'll be 17:30 - knocking on time in Marin County… unless he comes in over breakfast, which might well see Chris in the frame.
Thanks Chris, that's very lucid. It makes a lot more sense if you read "believe" as "forsee".
I haven't been following this as closely as I should, but has he produced any evidence that the drugs actually came out of a steak at all? Or is it just the theory his defence is running with?
but to me this new arguement undermines the meat being contaminated in the first place.
The stronger his case that he couldn't have forseen the meat would be contaminated. The weaker his case is that the meat actually was contaminated given thats a mater of debate and his team seem to have present little proof.
Is he not essentially saying - look i know its hard to believe but i ate the only contaminated steak in europe! I know i couldnt believe it myself!
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