Spaniard says he wants to return to racing as quickly as he can
Tour de France winner Alberto Contador has said that he believes he will ultimately be cleared of the doping charges against him, and that he plans to return to racing as soon as possible.
He and his legal team, comprising Bardají & Honrado and Swiss lawyer Rocco Taminelli, have studied the report submitted by the UCI to the Spanish Cycling Federation (RFEC).
“I am pleased that the case has come to the Federation because it means we can move forward,” he said.
A statement issued by his press officer said that he “maintains his optimism and confidence in solving the case.”
It claims that the dossier prepared by the UCI and World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), “focuses on the hypothesis of food contamination, as expected the rider’s defence. Thus, according to documents submitted by the UCI and WADA, food contamination remains the only reasonable explanation from a scientific point of view to justify the presence of the tiny amount of Clenbuterol in the body of the rider during the past Tour France.”
Currently the 27 year old’s legal team is finalising the preparation of scientific reports that it has commissioned in recent weeks. It said that these were done with international experts and, together with research and consultation with government agencies, will mean that they can “provide the National Committee for Competition and Sports Discipline as much evidence as possible so that the decision has the highest legal and scientific soundness.”
This evening’s statement concluded by saying that he and his legal team are “working with the hope of a verdict in the shortest possible time, with the objective that Alberto Contador can begin the next cycling season without any obstacles.”
The Spanish Federation received a request this week from the UCI to open disciplinary proceedings against the rider, who won his third Tour de France in July but was subsequently determined to be positive for Clenbuterol. Its president Juan Carlos Castaño said that he hoped things turned out well and that the rider would be cleared. This led some to question his impartiality.
He said that it would take two to three months to reach a verdict, exceeding the UCI’s stipulation that a decision should be reached in a month. Any decision reached would then be open to appeal before the Court of Arbitration for Sport, meaning it could be quite some time before Contador can compete again, even if he is cleared.
Previous cases have seen those positive for Clenbuterol serve sanctions of between one to two years, with the shorter sanction being applied when the substance was shown to be due to food or supplement contamination.