As of today Alberto Contador is no longer the 2010 Tour de France champion. That prestigious title now goes to Andy Schleck of Team Saxo Bank, who finished second in 2010.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has stripped Alberto Contador of his former TdF title because they found him guilty of using the performance enhancing drug clenbuterol.
Today the CAS formally rejected an appeal by Contador in which he claimed he had ingested the drug in a portion of tainted meat.
According to USA Today:
Contador becomes only the second Tour de France champion to be disqualified and stripped of victory for doping. The first was Floyd Landis, the American who lost his 2006 title after testing positive for testosterone.
Contador tested positive on the July 21 rest day. The positive results were not confirmed publicly until September 2010, when the UCI announced it had provisionally suspended him pending an investigation by Spain's cycling body."
The CAS also suspended Contador for two years, but since this investigation and appeal process took 18 months, and since the suspension was back-dated...Contador is eligible to compete again as of August 6th of this year.
Contador's stripped TdF victory means that American riders move up in the 2010 standing including Team Radioshack's Chris Horrner who moves into 9th place, Levi Leipheimer who moves up to 12th place and Lance Armstrong who slots up into 22nd place.
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