Contador doping verdict another blow for cycling

By Paul Logothetis

Associated Press

Published: Monday, Feb. 6 2012 6:17 a.m. MST

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FILE - in this July 25, 2010 file photo, three-time Tour de France winner Alberto Contador of Spain holds aloft the Spanish national flag during a victory lap after winning the Tour de France cycling race in Paris. he court of a Arbitration for Sport delivered the verdict Monday, 17 months after Contador returned a positive drug test in winning the 2010 Tour de France race. Contador has always claimed the positive result was from contaminated beef he eat during the race.

Christophe Ena, File, Associated Press

Summary

Former Tour de France winners say Alberto Contador's two-year ban for doping is a blow to cycling.

MADRID — Former Tour de France winners say Alberto Contador's two-year ban for doping is a blow to cycling.

Five-time Tour champion Eddy Merckx tells The Associated Press "it's like someone wants to kill cycling."

Contador was stripped of his 2010 Tour title on Monday when the Court of Arbitration for Sport rejected his claim that his positive doping test was caused by eating contaminated meat. The Spanish cyclist joined Floyd Landis as the only other rider to lose a Tour de France title.

Oscar Perreiro, who was elevated to 2006 champion after Landis was stripped, calls the verdict "disgraceful" and claims Contador "is innocent."

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