Alberto Contador handed two-year ban for doping offence

[denphone]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cycling/16905217

The Court of Arbitration for Sport has banned Alberto Contador for two years for doping, according to the Spanish Cycling Federation.

He has been stripped of his 2010 Tour de France victory and, with his suspension running until 6 August this year, will miss the 2012 Tour.

The Spaniard was found guilty of doping after testing positive for clenbuterol during the 2010 Tour.

He has maintained that the failure resulted from eating contaminated meat.

[chris9991]

And about time too

[denphone]

Yes its about time that they come down on these cheats.

[danielf]

Originally Posted by chris9991

And about time too

It's a retroactive ban actually, meaning it'll end in August this year.

Strange case really. Traces of Clenbuterol were found in his urine, apparently not enough to enhance performance, and he wouldn't be the first one to accidentally ingest it. I'm all for a tough stance on doping, but this doesn't seem right to me.

[chris9991]

Retrospective or not, still good news. Just wish it hadn't dragged out this long

[danielf]

Originally Posted by chris9991

Retrospective or not, still good news. Just wish it hadn't dragged out this long

Well, it's not exactly an open and shut case. It's no secret that cycling is riddled with doping, nor is it very surprising. Hell, riders in the TdF expend more calories per day than they can physically consume. I agree that doping needs to be stamped out, but I don't think it's right to ban people for what could well have been the eating of a dodgy steak.

[denphone]

Originally Posted by danielf

It's a retroactive ban actually, meaning it'll end in August this year.

Strange case really. Traces of Clenbuterol were found in his urine, apparently not enough to enhance performance, and he wouldn't be the first one to accidentally ingest it. I'm all for a tough stance on doping, but this doesn't seem right to me.

On the Clenbuterol traces found in his urine l have experience of Clenbuterol myself as when my heart function was 20% this drug has been used very recently in conjunction with a heart assist device on patients with heart failure to stimulate muscle regeneration and from my experience danielf l believe he knew exactly what he was doing and for him to say he accidentally ingested it is just nonsense.

Oh, really?

Cycling News

Cyclingnews has learned that teams have advised their riders not eat beef or pork during the Tour of Beijing in order to avoid accidentally testing positive for clenbuterol. The drug is used in the farming of certain meats in countries including China and has lead to a number of positive tests

Also, The EU Council Directive 96/22 EC of April 29, 1996, provided for the prohibition of the use of clenbuterol in the treatment of respiratory disease. Clenbuterol continues to be sold in 8 member states of the EU where it is approved for tocolytic* use in cattle.

*Of or being an agent that arrests uterine contractions in labor

[nomadking]

Originally Posted by danielf

It's a retroactive ban actually, meaning it'll end in August this year.

Strange case really. Traces of Clenbuterol were found in his urine, apparently not enough to enhance performance, and he wouldn't be the first one to accidentally ingest it. I'm all for a tough stance on doping, but this doesn't seem right to me.

You don't need to take muscle building drugs during any competition, but in the training leading up to it. The muscle building affect remains and can be maintained(for years?) by exercise. Drug levels will have gone down by competition time.

[danielf]

Originally Posted by denphone

On the Clenbuterol traces found in his urine l have experience of Clenbuterol myself as when my heart function was 20% this drug has been used very recently in conjunction with a heart assist device on patients with heart failure to stimulate muscle regeneration and from my experience danielf l believe he knew exactly what he was doing and for him to say he accidentally ingested it is just nonsense.

It's not nonsense. Clenbuterol is used (illegally) to enhance meat production in livestock.

Just have a look here

An outbreak of positive tests for the anabolic steroid clenbuterol at this summer’s under-17 football World Cup in Mexico has raised doubts about the reliability of previous doping violations for the same substance, including that of British hurdler Callum Priestley.


Fifa has revealed that an astonishing 109 positive tests were recorded for the banned drug out of 208 urine samples taken during the tournament.
The statistics are so extraordinary that both Fifa and the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) have confirmed they will not be prosecuting any cases, blaming the failed tests on contaminated meat.

I don't know all the details of the Contador case, but he certainly wouldn't be the first one to test positive due to contaminated meat.

[denphone]

Perhaps you want to look at this as many believe that doping is widespread in Cycling and you will find many links on widespread doping if you Google it.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...ses_in_cycling

[danielf]

Originally Posted by nomadking

You don't need to take muscle building drugs during any competition, but in the training leading up to it. The muscle building affect remains and can be maintained(for years?) by exercise. Drug levels will have gone down by competition time.

Yes, that's why athletes are tested out of competition as well. Contador has only tested positive once, and that test only revealed traces of Clenbuterol. So far, the evidence does not suggest he willfully took a performance enhancing substance.

Originally Posted by denphone

Perhaps you want to look at this as many believe that doping is widespread in Cycling.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...ses_in_cycling

erm, whilst your link is informative, it does not rebut people's comments about your earlier statement re Contador......

Originally Posted by denphone

for him to say he accidentally ingested it is just nonsense.

[danielf]

Originally Posted by denphone

Perhaps you want to look at this as many believe that doping is widespread in Cycling and you will find many links on widespread doping if you Google it.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...ses_in_cycling

Ermmm. As I said before:

Originally Posted by danielf

Well, it's not exactly an open and shut case. It's no secret that cycling is riddled with doping, nor is it very surprising. Hell, riders in the TdF expend more calories per day than they can physically consume. I agree that doping needs to be stamped out, but I don't think it's right to ban people for what could well have been the eating of a dodgy steak.

I'm just not convinced that Contador is guilty. The claim that he ingested clenbuterol accidentally isn't nonsense. It's actually quite plausible.

[denphone]

Originally Posted by danielf

Ermmm. As I said before:



I'm just not convinced that Contador is guilty. The claim that he ingested clenbuterol accidentally isn't nonsense. It's actually quite plausible.

Look l respect your opinion but l disagree with you on Contador as yes there have been quite a few cases of Clenbuterol found in some sportsmen but as we have seen in professional cycling that there have been many high profile cyclists found guilty of taking drugs in the last 10 years and as the old saying goes there is usually no smoke without fire and Contador is just one of many l believe that have been found out taking performance enhancing drugs.