Spain's Contador suspended after positive doping test

Sydney, Agency
Spanish cyclist and reigning Tour de France champion Alberto Contador has been provisionally suspended after testing positive for a banned substance during this year's race, the sport's governing body said Thursday.

The banned drug clenbuterol was found in Contador's urine on July 21 during the Tour's final rest day, the International Cycling Union said in a statement issued in the Australian city of Melbourne, where this year's World Road Championships are being held.

The organization added, however, that the amount of the drug was 400 times less than the minimum concentration that World Anti-Doping Agency labs "must be able to detect."

"In view of this very small concentration," the case "requires further scientific investigation before any conclusion can be drawn," the organization, known by the French initials UCI, said.

"The rider, who had already put an end to his cycling season before the result was known, was nevertheless formally and provisionally suspended as is prescribed by the World Anti-Doping Code," the organization added.

It did not indicate if Contador could be stripped of his Tour de France title.

A spokesman for the three-time Tour de France winner had already announced the positive test on Wednesday, saying the cyclist had been notified of the result on Aug. 24.

However, Jacinto Vidarte said in Australia that the presence of clenbuterol in the cyclist's urine was due to food contamination.

The day of the positive dope test was the rest day prior to the ascent to the Tourmalet mountain pass, precisely the stage in which Contador effectively sealed victory in this year's Tour.

The statement from Contador's spokesman said that from the time of the initial communication from the UCI, "Alberto Contador alleged food contamination as the only possible explanation of what happened."

Vidarte added that "this very serious problem" has been turned over to cycling authorities.

"For now, 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," he said.

The time of the test and the small quantity of clenbuterol make it possible to rule out "any other source or intentionality," he said.

For his part, Contador reiterated at a press conference Thursday at a hotel in Pinto, his residence on the outskirts of Madrid, that the positive test was due to contaminated steak.

"I think this is going to be resolved in a clear way," Contador, who also won the 2007 and 2009 Tour de France titles, said, adding that the amount of the substance found in his urine was so small as to be useless as a performance-enhancer.

Contador's positive test is the latest scandal to rock the world of cycling.

In one of the worst doping scandals, the 2006 Tour de France winner, American Floyd Landis, was stripped of his title after a positive test.

Just hours after Contador's doping case was made public, the UCI announced that two other Spanish cyclists - Ezequiel Mosquera and David Garcia Da Pena - tested positive for the banned blood booster hydroxyethyl starch during the Tour of Spain earlier this month.