Spyns 2011 Tour de France Tours: Contador Cleared!

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"I'm back baby. Bring on
the 2011 Tour de France."

And let them eat crow! As Spyns prepares for its 2011 Tour de France trips, we were all looking to a win by baby-faced Andy Schleck. But Alberto Contador may yet compete in the 2011 Tour de France. Contador's lawyer Andy Ramos Gil confirmed on Tueday afternoon that the competitions committee of the Spanish National Cycling Federation has upheld Contador's appeal and is free to ride with immediate effect. That doesn't necessarily mean that Contador, who has been suspended since last September when the positive test from the Tour was revealed, is completely out of the woods yet. The World Anti-Doping Authority (WADA) is free to appeal the new decision as is cycling's world governing authority the International Cycling Union (UCI).

I have long bashed the Spaniard but applaud his pluck. Anyone who has seen Contador race knows he is a fierce competitor and he refused to accept the ban. It appears the competitions committe has absolved Contador on article 296 of the UCI regulations which says that a rider can be exonerated if he can prove that he inadvertently ingested a product through no fault or negligence on their part. Contador and his team have, in fact, not been able to prove this - no part of the allegedly contaminated meat he ate in Pau remained - but equally the federation feel that neither has it been proved with any certainty how, when and where Contador was supposed to have deliberately taken clenbuterol. In short Contador has been given the benefit of the doubt by his own fedration, possibly not the most surprising result of this or any other season.

Spanish newspaper El País is reporting that the four lawyers on the committee may also have been swayed by a tweet posted last Thursday night by Spanish prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero that said “there are no legal grounds for sanctioning Contador”. The committee also studied WADA's decision not to appeal against the dismissal of similar charges against German table tennis player Dimitri Ovtcharov, who tested positive for clenbuterol after a tournament in China when it was proved his food was contaminated.

This will make for a very interesting 2011 Tour de France.

Spyns is an active travel company based in Whister, BC (Canada) and Beaujolais France. Spyns specializes in 2011 Tour de France packages for both riders and non-riders. We specialize in providing clients with Tour de France bike and non-biking packages with Paris grandstand seats and VIP access. Spyns offers active holidays to Europe including trips to the 2011 Tour de France. For more information about Spyns 2011 Tour de France tours, please go to http://www.tdf-tours.com/ or http://www.spyns.com/. You can also call us toll-free at 1.888.825.4720.