If he is found guilty by the UCI he would become only the second winner of the Tour de France to be stripped of his title for doping; the other was Floyd Landis in 2006. However is Alberto Contador guilty and should he be banned for two years? In my opinion the answer to this question is no and for more than one reason.
Contador the Man
Normally I would be the first person to be asking for a rider to be banned if they have been doping. However, with Contador my feelings are very different. I have never been a fan of el pistolero despite his superior riding and I haven’t been converted as a fan. However, after I had the fortune to meet him during an interview in Spain in 2009 in came to like him as a person. He is a very unassuming man who you wouldn’t think he had enjoyed as much success in cycling as he has. He never seemed like the type of man to take an unfair advantage in that way.
Outside of his personality I believe there are several issues within this case that make me believe the answer to the ‘is he guilty’ question is no. The first is really the definition of doping and the amount of the substance found in his system. The amount found in his system was much less than the amount needed to even have an effect.
An Unfair Advantage?
I’m going to compare this with something seemingly unrelated. In football they have recently changed the offside rule so it can only be applied if the player is having an effect on the game. Shouldn’t this apply how can you ban something for taking an unfair advantage when the substance found is so minute? It is also only by chance that he even tested positive if the sample had been brought to another lab this case wouldn’t even have arisen. Is something that can barely be detected doping?
The timing of the doping test could also be called in to question if someone wishes to dope why would they take such a small amount on a rest day? Even if you do take a substance like clenbuterol which increases the metabolism you would need to take it for several days for it to have a noticeable effect. Contador didn’t test positive during any of the other stages which to me substantiates the case that it did not enter his system intentionally.
Contaminated Meat
Finally if his protests that the meet he ate on that night are true is that fair that he should be banned from the sport? The UCI claims that the teams and riders are responsible for what goes in to their bodies. However, is it feasible to expect the teams to test for a substance which is banned even outside of the sport?
Yes they could ask if the meat has got certain substances in it, but what can you do if they lie about the situation. The teams do not have the facilities to drug test their food and other products and also lack the time to do is as most foods would go off by the time the results come in.
I would like to say that I am staunchly against doping in any sport and in my opinion this is a very different to the majority of other cases.
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