Positive Test for Contador May Cost Him Tour Title
By JULIET MACUR
Published: September 29, 2010
Alberto Contador tested positive for a stimulant.
Laurent Rebours/Associated Press
Contador, a Spaniard formerly on the Astana team, could lose the title he won this year and face a two-year suspension.
He learned about the positive test for the banned drug clenbuterol, a weight-loss and muscle-building drug, on Aug. 24, nearly a month after winning the Tour, the statement said. He had tested positive for the substance on July 21, one day before the race’s decisive mountain stage.
Contador, who has signed to ride for the Saxo Bank team next year, said he ingested the drug accidentally.
“The experts consulted so far have agreed also that this is a food-contamination case, especially considering the number of tests passed by Alberto Contador during the Tour de France,” his statement said.
Pat McQuaid, president of the International Cycling Union, did not immediately return phone calls, but the cycling union released a statement saying that Contador had been provisionally suspended and that his urine sample had a “very small concentration” of the banned drug.
“This case required further scientific investigation before any conclusion could be drawn,” the statement said.
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