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Contador cleared off doping ban by federation

(China Daily)
Updated: 2011-02-17 08:11

Spanish cyclist Albert Contador looks on before the start of the Algarve Tour in Faro Feb 16, 2011. [Photo/Agencies]

Article 296 effectively states that if a rider can establish that "he bears no fault or negligence, the otherwise applicable period of ineligibility shall be eliminated".

A statement released by the governing body acknowledged the decision, but said: "the UCI reserves the right to conduct an in-depth study of the reasons behind the decision before expressing its opinion".

Contador, who also won the Tour de France in 2007 and 2009, had threatened to quit the sport if he was slapped with a ban.

In an interview recorded for Spanish television before the announcement was made public, Contador said he had hoped the RFEC "would make a U-turn" and said he could never have accepted a suspension.

"When you have done nothing, and my conscience is completely clear, all that matters is that you recognize that you have done nothing, so to accept a year as was proposed was not something that I could accept because there was such a great injustice that I had to fight," he told the VEO7 channel.

Earlier this month, Contador blasted anti-doping regulations which he said were outdated.

Talking to reporters at Madrid airport before flying to Lisbon late on Tuesday, he said he hoped "standards will change" as a result of the case.

Agence France-Presse