Contador ...

[Dr Matt]

... busted.

Banned for two years (backdated) and stripped of his 2010 Le Tour title.

Andy Schleck wins his first tour, two-ish years after crossing the finish line.
Michele Scarponi also gets to add the 2011 Giro to his palmarès.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/cas-san ... terol-case
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cycling/16905217
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/fe ... ur-cycling
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/sport/alb ... 6264163075

[Gemm]

faaark!

About time.

[DanielS]

The real tragedy here is that it took such a long time for a final (-ish) decision to be made.

The real tragedy here is that it took such a long time for a final (-ish) decision to be made.

The real tragedy is that nobody will really know how much he was cheating, Clenbuterol is not going to win you the tour but injecting extra blood might - it just happened to contain traces of Clenbuterol.

[Dr Matt]

I dont like that he's been allowed to race for so long while under a cloud of suspicion.
Plus he's only going to get a few short months off; and then come back refreshed and ready to rip it up for the end of the season. Nothing like a 2-year break to kill your competativeness - which Cheatador isn't getting. Boo

the real tragedy is the focus on the 'was he doping' rather than the absolute disaster of a process and corruption (sporting and governmental) that appears highly likely to have taken place.

What I am confused about is this notion of "not proven" being tossed about. My understanding is
(1) that clenbuterol was found in a Contador sample; and
(2) that the maximum acceptable level of same is zero.
Can somebody enlighten me as to what is "not proven" please?

What I am confused about is this notion of "not proven" being tossed about. My understanding is
(1) that clenbuterol was found in a Contador sample; and
(2) that the maximum acceptable level of same is zero.
Can somebody enlighten me as to what is "not proven" please?

Valid point, Mr Stu.....while not strictly defending him, the quantity found in his system was far smaller than the accuracy required within the UCI rules regarding sample testing. The question then becomes, should the test be rounded off and counted as a zero at a certain level, or is zero zero?
Keeping in mind that the quantity involved is far below a quantity which is actually performance enhancing, I worry about the future if testing procedures become so accurate (decimal places) that if a doper farts in my general direction, I could fail a test, and if not able to explain the 'positive', be banned for two years.....

Ah hah. Thanks JS.

So a zero can be shown to be not zero by, among others, quantum physicists, statisticians, the occasional electronics engineer, mathematicians of a certain bent (but not necessarily bent mathematicians) and WADA? Undoubtedly the zero is up there as one of the most important constructs developed by homo sapiens; do I detect a smidge of megalomania exhibited by the zero in the creeping spread of its influence? Should I be afraid or simply "duck and cover"?

PS Perhaps dust off the gas mask but probably not necessary to adjust the straps just yet.

I think this is a pretty good summary of things.
http://grannygearblog.com/2012/02/the-a ... a-wash-up/

what these type of summaries are missing is the part from the CAS ruling that states very clearly that they do not believe contador was using clenbuterol as a doping/cheating/etc product and that they dont believe there was a blood transfusion

the CAS also dont believe it was a contaminated steak but they made it very clear they believe it was due to a tainted supplement

the exact same situation as tom zirbel in the US (also received a 2year ban for a tainted supplement), who speaks english, is white, had a blog and also had the support of basically all those people who labelled contador a cheat... now he is making his post-ban comeback and is being treated almost like a god by the americans

the world works in mysterious ways

[Gemm]

...and now Jan Ullrich is done, backdated 2 years prior to his retirement, and forward dated from yesterday. Never tested positive, same as ol Lance....

[Dr Matt]

Never tested positive

Well, except for the pile of blood bags in Dr. Fuentes lab fridge and the $100,000 payment.

so the schleck(s) need a 2 year ban too then? or was their payment for 'training plans'?