Category: Sport
“There is no reason to be happy now, first of all I feel sad for Alberto. I always believed in his innocence. This is just a very sad day for cycling. The only positive news is that there is a verdict after 566 days of uncertainty. Now, we can move on.”
“I trust that the CAS judges took all things into consideration after reading the 4,000 page file. If now I am declared overall winner of the 2010 Tour de France it will not make me happy. I battled with Contador in that race and I lost. My goal is to win the Tour de France in a sportive way, being the best of all competitors, not in court. If I succeed this year, I will consider it as my first Tour de France victory.”
This was Andy Schleck's reaction to Monday's news that he'd been declared winner of the Tour de France 2010 after the actual winner, Alberto Contador, was found guilty on doping charges by the Internatonal Court of Arbitration of Sports (CAS) in Lausanne. It was a great day for Luxembourgish sport and a bad day for cycling as Contador's Tour de France 2010 and Giro d'Italia 2011 victories were declared null and void by the verdict. The Saxo Bank rider is also barred from taking part in this summer's Tour, as his ban runs until 6 August 2012. The Spaniard was given a two-year suspension for using Clenbuterol, something he has always categorically denied, insisting the traces found in July 2010 were down to the consumption of a tainted steak.
All this means that Luxembourg's Andy Schleck, second in 2010 while riding for Saxo Bank, has now become the winner of that year's Tour de France.
After François Faber in 1909, Nicolas Frantz in 1927 and 1928 and Charly Gaul in 1958, Andy Schleck is the fourth rider from Luxembourg to have won cycling's most prestigious race.
The International Cycling Federation (UCI) also issued a statement on Monday
CAS DECISION IN CONTADOR CASE :
UCI STATEMENT
The UCI acknowledges the decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to impose a suspension of 2 years on the rider Alberto Contador following the UCI’s appeal, brought in conjunction with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), in the case concerning the Spanish cyclist.
In rejecting the defence argument, in particular that the presence of clenbuterol in Alberto Contador's urine sample came from the consumption of contaminated meat, today's ruling confirms the UCI's position.
However, the UCI has not derived a sense of satisfaction from the CAS ruling, but rather welcomes the news as the end of a long-running affair that has been extremely painful for cycling.
Without wanting to enter into the details of the ruling, UCI President Pat McQuaid said: "This is a sad day for our sport. Some may think of it as a victory, but that is not at all the case. There are no winners when it comes to the issue of doping: every case, irrespective of its characteristics, is always a case too many."
The UCI will not issue any further comments on the matter.
UCI Press Services
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