Tour de France winner Contador suspended due to doping case

MADRID, SPAIN (BNO NEWS) -- The Royal Spanish Cycling Federation (RFEC) on Wednesday suspended Tour de France winner Alberto Contador due to a positive doping case.

According to El Pais newspaper, RFEC informed the Spanish cyclist that he had been suspended for one year after testing positive for the banned anabolic agent clenbuterol during the 2010 Tour de France.

Contador, who will also be stripped of the Tour de France's championship, has ten days to appeal the decision. The cyclist has been provisionally suspended since August.

The 28-year-old claimed that the positive doping test was due to contaminated meat he ate. Contador may also be able to take his case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. The final decision will be announced on February 9.

Contador is currently training with Saxo Bank team in Mallorca, Spain. The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) is expected to also ban the cyclist for one year. UCI provisionally suspended Contador in September 2010.

In 2007, Contador became the youngest Spaniard to win the prestigious Tour de France. He also won the 2009 and 2010 competitions. He also won the 2008 Tour of Spain and the 2008 Giro d'Italia.

((BNO NEWS) )