Well, the news just about everyone expected but nobody (including myself) wanted to talk about has arrived. It was announced today that 2010 Tour de France champion Alberto Contador will be suspended for the 2011 season and be stripped of his 2010 Tour win. Official news on when the ban starts and whether or not 2010 Tour will go to runner-up Andy Schleck are still unknown.Contador and Saxo managed Bjarne Riis have announced a press conference on Friday to further discuss the issue.
As far as the punishment goes, there were so many unknowns in this case that I'd certainly hate to be the one responsible for making the final decision. Contador continues to blame contaminated meat for the clenbuterol present in his blood but the RFEC just didn't buy it. There was a rumor that a new process involving running tests on hair samples would be able to determine whether or not the clenbuterol came from meat, but that was never used (or at least not publicly) in this case.
1 year isn't a terribly long ban for the sport of cycling but for a rider of Contador's profile it is very significant. Not only because we don't know who won last year's Tour, but for the impact it will have on the sport this year. With Contador as well as last year's 3rd place finisher Denis Menchov (his team was not selected) out of this year's Tour then the question becomes "Can anyone challenge the Schlecks?"
Or maybe even a more intriguing question: What on earth is Bjarne Riis going to do now?!
He built his entire squad around protecting Contador. Plenty of talent on the squad but nobody that has shown any resemblance of team leading qualities. Sprint? Well they have Haedo but he's not the kind of guy that can hang wheel for wheel with Cavendish or Farrar. Maybe they'll become stage snipers.
But there's plenty of time to worry about that. For now, Contador has 10 days to potentially appeal the verdict. (He probably will)
No comments:
Post a Comment