Saxo Bank rider looks set to return home after Palma Trophy to await CAS decision
Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank) has long been expected to be present at the Mallorca Challenge, which will start on Sunday, February 5th, with the Trofeo Palma. With the much-delayed verdict expected from the Court for Arbitration in Sport (CAS) into his positive test for Clenbuterol in the 2010 Tour de France however, it is expected that the Spanish rider will compete on day one and then immediately return home to Madrid to await the news.
According to a report from EFE, the Spanish news agency points out that this could be a possible course for the [currently] three-time Tour de France winner, but biciciclismo.es goes further and states that this is definitely Contador’s intention.
The four races of the Mallorca Challenge – the Trofeos Palma, Migjorn, Deià, and Serra de Tramuntana – are open for riders to pick and choose; since they are officially separate 1.1-ranked races there is no official overall competition, although there is an unofficial one contested by those who choose to race all four.
Although it was announced back in December that Contador was to race in the island series, it was not clear how many days he would ride – the last time he rode in Mallorca was 2008, when he did two of what were then five races – but his expected return to Madrid immediately after day one would doubtless be to avoid the certain media frenzy that would greet any CAS verdict.
Were the International Cycling Union (UCI) and World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) appeals against his acquittal by the Spanish Cycling Federation (RFEC) be refused, Contador could, of course, continue to ride the second, third or fourth races; win or lose though, the 29-year-old will doubtless want to be out of the public eye.
As biciciclismo.es remembers, it’s also possible that Contador would see his presence on the Balearic island as a bad omen with a verdict on the way; it was while he was riding in the 2008 Challenge when he found out about his then Discovery Channel’s non-invitation to the Tour de France, which meant he was unable to defend his first title.