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| Yes he looks like a Tron extra. Contador during a recent timetrial. |
Contador was cleared by the Royal Spanish Cycling Federation (RFEC) last Tuesday after testing positive for the banned substance Clenbuterol at last year's Tour de France, and less than 24 hours after that ruling he was turning out for new employers Team Saxo Bank-Sungard in Portugal. In a bit of irony, Saxo Bank previously sponsored Contador's arch-rival Andy Schleck (codename "Bambi").
The three-time Tour de France winner had not raced since being provisionally suspended by the International Cycling Union (UCI) in September following his positive test, but despite a lack of competition he still went into today's final-day time-trial in second place and with a chance of retaining the Volta ao Algarve title that he had won the past two years. It was not to be for Contador, who could only finish 15th on the day, 45 seconds behind stage and overall winner Tony Martin, but the 28-year-old was nevertheless happy with his five-day showing in Portugal.
'The time trial did not go all that well, but it's already been a triumph just to be here,' he said.
'I'm very happy, although one always likes to do better. I think that it was a good performance for my first race. I read in some newspaper that I'd gone 205 days without competing, and that's too much.' He added: 'The performance was very good, because the people who were here in the time-trial were specialists, like Tony Martin. Those that finished in front are very strong riders.'
Contador felt he had 'nothing to lose' as he chased a third successive Algarve title, saying: 'I've done it differently to other years, when I came here with a lot of pressure to win the race. This year, in contrast, I've not been able to train too much, but this will also be better for me, because I always start the year too strong and then I've had to measure my breaks. 'This year, however, I will take things calmer.' Contador will join his team-mates for a training camp in Mallorca on Tuesday before then taking part in the Tour of Murcia from March 4-6. The RFEC's ruling on Contador may not yet be the end of the matter, with the International Cycling Union (UCI) and World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) having the right to challenge the decision with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). We can only hope the decision is faster than Europe's (neverending) bailout. Stay tuned for Spyns 2011 Tour de France trips to see if Contador wins yet another yellow jersey.
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.
