Alberto Contador may not have won the 2010 Tour de France fair and square after a failed drug test throughout the race was revealed Wednesday. In a news conference Thurs, he strenuously denied that he cheated for his third victory in the event. Contador defended himself from the possible loss of his title and a two-year suspension with the justification that eating bad animal meat was the reason for the test results.
Contador blames impure meat
The Tour de France was something Alberto Contador was looking forward to as the world’s greatest cyclist. Unfortunately, the day before it began on July 21, he tested positive. The NY Times reports that a statement released Wednesday by the International Cycling Union said two urine samples taken from Contador that day tested positive for traces of clenbuterol, a weight-loss and muscle-building substance. Thursday, Contador decided to come out and say that meat he had eaten at the hotel had to be drugged with this because he did not do it himself. He also claimed he couldn’t have done better with the drug anyway. He said the amounts found in his samples were too small to matter.
Contador has links with substances
The next thing on Contador’s list is to clear his name of charges. He was suspended from racing says Cable News Network. This came from the International Cycling Union. In 2006, the Spanish blood-doping ring has Contador linked right now it, what with the sport having drugging being something most do. In 2007 he won the Tour de France for the first time. Astana was a team that was banned from racing because of doping, but he joined them in 2008 anyway. He then won another Tour title. This was in 2009. Lance Armstrong came third in this race. He has won seven titles previously though. There is only one person ever to have lost their title due to testing positive within the Tour de France. This was Floyd Landis who was an American.
Contador easily convinces many individuals
Experts seem to have a few sympathy for Contador assuming he really did examination positive because of tainted animal meat. We learn from Universal Sports that clenbuterol is given to animals sometimes. To speed up growth, chicken, cows and pigs are given the drug. The liver and muscle is where the drug ends up staying. Also many bodybuilders use clenbuterol. They will use it to try and burn off fat faster while building up their muscles. The drug also increases aerobic capacity by making more oxygen accessible to muscles. Its short term effects are similar to amphetamines. Dr. Andrew Franklin-Miller is a sports expert. He said that it wouldn’t be possible for Contador to be affected by meat with clenbuterol in it.
Information from
New York Times
nytimes.com/2010/10/01/sports/cycling/01cycling.html?ref=sports
CNN
cnn.com/2010/SPORT/09/30/cycling.alberto.contador.banned/index.html?npt=NP1
Universal Sports
universalsports.com/news/article/newsid=494315.html
