Contador fails drugs test

Tour de France champ suspended for presence of clenbuterol

The Spaniard, who won his third Tour this year, was tested during the second rest day of the race and the second B test had confirmed the presence of clenbuterol, the International Cycling Union (UCI) said in a statement. "The rider, who had already put an end to his cycling season before the result was known, was nevertheless formally and provisionally suspended as is prescribed by the World Anti-Doping Code," the statement said.

Contador blamed food contamination for the finding. "It's possible to put your hand in the fire and not burn yourself. If it had been a clear case of doping it would have come out a week later. The food poisoning came from a cut of meat from Spain," Contador told Spanish radio station Cadena Cope.

Clenbuterol can be abused by athletes to strip fat and enhance muscle size and can have short-term stimulant effects including increasing aerobic capacity, blood pressure and alertness. It has led to bans for cyclists in the past.

The concentration in Contador's A test was "400 time(s) less than what the antidoping laboratories accredited by (World Anti-Doping Agency) WADA must be able to detect," the UCI said in a statement.

Mosquera too in the net
Tour of Spain runner-up Ezequiel Mosquera and fellow Spaniard David Garcia Da Pena have both tested positive for a banned substance, the UCI said on Thursday.
The two men, who are Xacobeo team-mates, tested positive for hydroxyethyl starch, the UCI said.