Contador Likely to Lose Tour de France Title

Spaniard has 10 days to appeal decision over drug test
By Nick McMaster,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 27, 2011 6:11 PM CST
Contador Likely to Lose Tour de France Title
In his Sept. 30, 2010, file photo cyclist Alberto Contador reacts during a news conference in Pinto, on the outskirts of Madrid, Spain.   (AP Photo/Paul White, File)

Alberto Contador is expected to lose his title as the winner of the 2010 Tour de France and be banned from cycling for a full year, the Telegraph reports. The decision is not yet official, but the Spanish Cycling Federation has recommended the punishment, meaning that Contador has 10 days to appeal. It comes after Contador failed a drug test in which trace amounts of clenbuterol were found in his urine.

Contador has insisted he's innocent, saying the small amount found was the result of eating a steak. Clenbuterol is used to fatten up cattle in some countries, though it's banned in Europe, explains the Christian Science Monitor. Contador plans a press conference tomorrow to declare his next move.
(More Alberto Contador stories.)

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