Contador’s Tour Participation

Spain’s Alberto Contador has finally confirmed he’ll take part in this years Tour de France which officially begins in Vendée on July 2nd. Contador tested positive for the banned substance Clenbuterol during last years Tour but lays blame due to ingested contaminated meat. Contador’s legal team is disputing the findings and his case will appear before the Court of Arbitration for sport in early August.

Having already raced and won this year’s Giro, the Tour de France organisors, ASO, have given Contador the green light to participate in their event regardless of the fact he takes part under a cloud of suspicion. A recent poll carried out amongst French cycling fans reveals that 63% of respondents want Contador to stay away from their national Tour.

As concerns mount over the participation of Alberto Contador, what will the repercussions be should he take victory only for it to be quashed by CAS several weeks later? Contador’s legal team are following a path that they are truly obliged to take, yet it remains an open question as to whether Contador’s appearance will tarnish the sports Blue Riband event. The current anti-doping system under which Contador is embroiled is flawed, with Contador’s legal team taking full advantage of a situation which needs to be amended to prevent further embarrassment for the sport. Contador has co-operated with the anti-doping regulations and procedures to date and has the right to ride the event as it stands but the ASO also have the power to prevent him from riding should they wish to protect their event.

Nobody needs reminding that Le Tour has suffered more than any other in relation to doping. Let’s cast our minds back to several quotes from the ASO regarding it’s stance on doping. In 2004 the ASO stated that they, the organisors “could not accept the participation of any rider involved in a judicial procedure or implicated in a police inquiry.”

In 2007, Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme said he wanted riders implicated in the 2006 Operación Puerto raid to be banned from that year’s race. Speaking in the French newspaper Le’Equipe, Prudhomme said, “Cycling cannot afford to let riders named in the case enter the Tour if they are not cleared of suspicion.”

Also, in 2008, the ASO stated it would “no longer tolerate doping in its event and the negative publicity it brings.” In relation to Tom Boonen’s positive test for cocaine the ASO stated at the time, “the image and the behavior of Tom Boonen are incompatible with the image of the Tour de France and the image that such an exceptional champion should try to display. In these circumstances and in order to preserve his reputation, his image and those of the Tour de France, the ASO group has decided not to accept the presence of Tom Boonen in its event.”

Johan Bruyneel’s Astana team were banned from riding the 2008 Tour in relation to doping scandals. Contador was part of that Astana team along with Alexander Vinokourov.

Quite rightly, any organisor of a national Tour would wish to protect their event, their investment along with their sponsors investment. So what happened to the tough talking of previous years? The ASO has the commercial power to prevent Contador from riding their event. But as such, the ASO have now left themselves wide open to criticism and embarrassment in what could turn out to be a PR disaster for the Tour de France.

The ASO have such a large part to play in the fight against doping and we feel they are strongly contradicting their very own anti-doping sentiments regarding the Tour de France. The Tour doesn’t need another doping controversy hanging over it.

With the worlds media present, its going to be very difficult to hold them off once the road steepens.