I'm wearing my livestrong kit this weekend in triumph. Not bc I like LA (I don't), but bc this is hilarious. I cant wait for the conspiracy theories. And the Contador case next week! Right?....

wow...I guess Floyd is not getting any whistleblower money...back to the apartment behind the car wash. Novitzky should resign...that was alot of $$$ wasted for no return. whatever...

Well, this really should come as no surprise. He's just another Bonds, Clemens...guys sort of being held responsible but not really suffering any consequences even though everyone knows they're guilty.

The annoying thing to me is that now every jackass doing RAGBRAI or the LifeCylce AIDS ride will be like "see? He's innocent!"

He won't be going to jail...but he may still have some tour wins vacated. “Unlike the U.S. Attorney, USADA’s job is to protect clean sport rather than enforce specific criminal laws,” said Tygart. “Our investigation into doping in the sport of cycling is continuing and we look forward to obtaining the information developed during the federal investigation.” I don't know what that means...but it doesn't sound great for L.A.'s image. Why was Lance never deposed during the Fed investigation? Mr. Tygart had best have his ducks in a row, with the Feds dropping their case L.A.'s lawyers will be screaming witch hunt. I believe in fair play and this applies to the legal system as well. If there is a smoking gun it is past time for it to be placed on the table. USADA had better shit or get off the pot. If that invesitgation rolls snake eyes...then I am done ever commenting on the topic. I will say L.A.'s "matador" act with prosecuters and investigators has been more impressive to watch then all his your wins combined. Yacks

Posted By: twoyacks L.A.'s "matador" act with prosecuters and investigators has been more impressive to watch then all his your wins combined. Yacks

I think that sums it up better than anything I've read in a long time.

Well said, Christoph

http://velonews.competitor.com/2012/02/news/contador-gets-two-year-ban-from-cas_205693

ok - so ignoring did he\didnt he \ contaminated beef vs being aware of all items you take in etc -

My question is this - what kind of "ban" is this ?
He loss his results from 2011 and 2012 races ? So freaking what. He already entered those races, got his money, lived the life of a pro bike racer.
He is only now truly "banned" from racing between now and August 5th. Thats not a two year ban, thats a six month ban.
So he goes down with an asterisk next to his "banned" results ? Doesn't seem like a big punishment to me

I don't agree with this. Armstrong doesnt get shit, 2 days later contador gets banned- this year's tour is also not gonna be as exciting without him or i could be wrong. he's such a likeable guy i find also- ok maybe the pistolero gets a bit annoying but still.

A surprisingly clear document:

http://road.cc/sites/default/files/CAS%20Final%20Award%20in%20Alberto%20Contador%20Case.pdf

(may take a while to load, did on my computer...)

Saxo Bank will be forced out of their World Tour status, quoted by L'Equipe newspaper.

^ i only read a little bit, but that seems a pretty awesome and frank interview

Contador Faces $6 Million Bill After Losing Doping Case (1)
2012-02-07 13:49:54.635 GMT


(Adds WADA’s legal costs, comment from sixth paragraph.)

By Alex Duff
Feb. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Alberto Contador could face a $6 million bill after losing a legal battle to save his 2010 Tour de France title.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport yesterday rejected the Spanish cyclist’s claim that he failed a drug test because he consumed a contaminated steak, and banned him for two years. The tribunal said it will make a separate decision on a request by cycling ruling body Union Cycliste Internationale to fine Contador at least 2.5 million euros ($3.3 million) and “70 percent of the variable part of his image contract.”
Contador, 29, may already have racked up 2 million euros in legal fees in defending himself, according to Daniel Malbranque, former general secretary of the professional riders union, who has direct knowledge of doping cases.
“The money runs out very quickly in these cases,”
Malbranque said by telephone. “He’s been paying lawyers non- stop for 18 months.”
Contador becomes the second Tour de France rider to be stripped of his crown following Floyd Landis, who said in 2007 he’d spent more than $1 million in legal fees in the nine months following his failed test the previous year.
The case has cost both sides “millions” of euros in legal fees, UCI president Pat McQuaid said in a Jan. 25 interview in his office in Aigle, Switzerland. The court has several options about how to split the costs, McQuaid added. WADA’s legal costs ran to $300,000, the agency’s spokesman Terence O’Rorke said in Lausanne, Switzerland today.
Contador was represented by eight lawyers at the hearing last November and he also hired a detective company and lie- detector expert to help in his defense, according to the 98-page court ruling. The World Anti-Doping Agency, which along with the UCI had appealed the Spanish cycling federation’s decision to acquit Contador, had four lawyers present.

Team Salary

Most of Contador’s earnings come from his team salary, according to his spokesman Jacinto Vidarte. Contador, who also won the Tour de France in 2007 and 2009, earns 5 million euros with the Saxo Bank team, French newspaper L’Equipe reported. The team said yesterday in a statement it was studying the decision.
A deal to supply him with clothes at public appearances was withdrawn by Hugo Boss AG when rumors of his failed test first emerged, according to Till Pohlmann, head of sports sponsorship at the Metzingen, Germany-based luxury clothier. His other backers include Spanish jeweler Cristian Lay S.A.
Contador is scheduled to hold a news conference today in Madrid at 7.30 p.m. local time.
The case began when a laboratory in Cologne found 50 picograms per milliliter of clenbuterol in a urine sample Contador gave to anti-doping officials on the last rest day of the 2010 Tour de France, an amount the UCI called “very small”
and scientists said would not have improved his performance. A picogram is one trillionth of a gram.

Spanish Decision

The Spanish cycling federation acquitted Contador last year after the rider argued that there is a history of farmers using clenbuterol, a muscle-building stimulant, to bulk up cattle. The UCI and WADA appealed that decision.
The Lausanne, Switzerland-based Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled yesterday that it was “highly unlikely” a steak Contador ate was contaminated and said submissions by the UCI and WADA that Contador might have re-infused his own blood to boost performance, leaving traces of clenbuterol, were “equally unlikely.”
The court said it was more likely the clenbuterol came from a contaminated food supplement. WADA rules say an athlete is responsible for what he ingests.
“We welcome the decision, it demonstrates clearly the robust nature of our code,” WADA President John Fahey told reporters in Lausanne. “The onus is on athletes to ensure they do not take” banned substances, he added.
Contador’s ban was backdated and he can race again from Aug. 5. The Vuelta a Espana, cycling’s biggest stage race after the Tour and Giro d’Italia, starts Aug. 18.
“He can still come back and perform at a good level,”
Malbranque said. “But this is very expensive for him.”

For Related News and Information:
Cycling news: NI CYCLING
Top international sports stories: ISPO

--with reporting assistance from Danielle Rossingh in Lausanne.
Editors: Christopher Elser, Dan Baynes

To contact the reporter on this story:
Alex Duff in Madrid at +34-91-700-9602 or aduff4@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Christopher Elser at +44-20-7673-2284 or celser@bloomberg.net

Have been following this pretty closely since the beginning, and think it's a joke. You know the decision's bad when Merckx, Cancellara and Andy Schleck all come out for Contador.

The CAS finding re likely cause of positive test is even more exculpatory than people expected as far as Contador's intent - *unintentional consumption of contaminated nutritional supplements*!

People can drone on about strict liability, etc. But it's prohibitively expensive/impractical to do the sort of testing on every food item/supplement that would turn up minute levels of every banned substance. They only found the Clen in the first place because they were doing some really sensitive tests looking for blood doping. If enforcement of *the rules* weren't so selective, the entire pro peloton would be out.

Speaking of which, Armstrong suddenly walks and RadioShack sails along. What's the difference? Political/PR savvy. Contador has none outside of Spain. Armstrong has the whole system greased.

And the greatest injustice of all is that I lost a bet to Malcolmson over this and owe him a hot dog, fries and chocolate shake. (Who's the winner if he eats that, by the way? :-)

@Mitch. While I'm sure there is plenty of injustice to go around, the two cases are so wildly different I don't find it all that useful to compare them. For one, as far as I understand it, Armstrong never tested positive for a banned substance. Contador did. I mean, I'm sure someone will mention some test at the Tour de Suisse or somesuch, but from the governing bodies point of view, Armstrong was/is clean.

There is no question that Contador had an illegal substance in his body. He never denied that fact. He just attempted to argue that it got there accidentally and it was of such a small amount that it could have had no performance enhancing benefits.

To which I say, that there is no way of knowing if he is speaking truthfully. Because it is also quite possible that he had taken the illegal substance in far greater quantities at an earlier point and by the time the test rolled around, the drug had broken down and left his system, mostly, leaving just the trace amounts left that were detected.

Right. The case against Armstrong never seemed all that strong. The majority of the evidence (we know for sure at this point) was from testimony of two people who had been busted, one multiple times, and both of them had maintained innocence for years, coming up with highly implausible reasons for misleading test results, until finally they admit guilt. TH and FL are shady characters. Plus the case was really about defrauding the sponsor (US Postal Service) that's why the federal prosecutor was investigating. That and the chance for him to get some all expense-paid trips to Europe.

Contador likewise had a weak, but plausible excuse. His dose was really low. And though banned, it isn't one of the most effective performance aids. Still, with good reason, the excuse of "I didn't know I consumed that substance" doesn't fly. No one would ever admit they did know.

I'm not shedding any tears for finger banger.

The rules say "none" and he got busted with "not equals" none. Case closed. The rules don't contemplate how the substance got into him - and frankly, if alien pirate-ninjas teleported him to planet zorkon and injected him before returning him to the start house, that's his fucking problem. Next time install an alien protection force-field.

The rules also say bikes with 2 wheels, and you're not allowed to ride a flying gorilla (you can look it up). The fact that it's an ill-conceived and barely enforced rule just highlights the mismanagement of the sport.

Case against Armstrong not that strong? You've got to be kidding!

Pretty much everyone who rode with him either cracked in front of the grand jury and/or has been banned! They have reams of evidence. And it's leaked to the WSJ that the US Attorney made a sudden unilateral decision to drop the case in opposition to his Assistant US Atty's, the FBI, WADA, etc. just when the Assistants were filing criminal charges? Looking forward to the results of the DOJ investigation.

And then you have this skinny Spanish guy who barely speaks English who gets shot up by his team with some tainted vitamins and the UCI and WADA hang him out and CAS goes for the absolute maximum penalty. This stuff about "strict liability" and automatic penalties for any CS violation is total crap. The CAS, WADA, UCI all have discretion to set the penalties based on the circumstances. The idea that this guy is facing a bigger penalty in these circumstances than the convicted Puerto dopers is a joke. Someone is making an example of him for some reason.

You don't have to be a lawyer or read the CAS decision (which I am and I did!) to be disgusted. Listen to what Merckx has said. Or better yet, read the link Jules sent! That was an eye-opener. You'd think you're reading about horses and horse racing. They'd kill their losers for insurance money if they could.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203315804577209511653273618.html

WSJ article to discuss..

We're only privy to conjecture and hearsay from the investigation at this point. That which has been leaked and personal interest from shady figures. The point is, the government's burden of proof in *this* case was high: intentionally committing fraud against the US federal government. This wasn't about whether or not he's ever doped, specifically.

Beyond that, yeah no physical evidence and no positive tests make the Novitsky fraud case weak. Do I personally think armstrong has doped? Uh, DUH!!! That's why the pending WADA case will be more interesting.

"...skinny Spanish guy who barely speaks English..."??

@dstearns: Some have theorized that many of Contador's PR issues stem from his unwillingness to speak English to the press, unlike all the other cycling stars.

Steve Martin used to do routine about going to France. He explained that when traveling in a country where English isn't spoken, he generally starts conversations by asking "courtesy to speak English?"

That's implicit for most of the English-speaking press.

so odd, in a sport where nearly all of the major events take place in non-English speaking countries, and most of the lingo is French or Italian, regardless of English's ubiquitousness as a language.

anyway, i think they both doped. sucks - because watching contador sprint up those hills in italy in 2011 was truly awesome.

ok my two cents - of course contadore doped! and armstrong and their teammates that took them to the line/climb/podium...come-on kcc folks don't be even vaguely naive about this issue, what i think is sad, is that both of these riders(and maybe, Landis) are/were super strong and elegant/courageous riders who likely given their hard work deserve their acclaim...still, the sad part is that they did dope and that the difference between their performance and other riders is NOT known.

the only way to reduce/eliminate drugs from the peleton &stars is to establish a dis-incentive that is adequately high, that it is NOT in their interest to 'cheat.' cycling is super exciting without these super human performances. i am with julesR on tis one "The rules say "none" and he got busted..." problem is that not enough players(riders) are being busted ...for exactly the reasons mentioned above re: sponsorship CYA of so-called governing bodies and timidity of governments to interject themselves into the medieval mafia guilds of the classic european cycling grand tours, classics, etc...

my mother LaRue summed it up, "they (governing bodies) have not banned drugs & dopping in cycling they are simply managing them," -LWR, the cycling industry &governing bodies have NOT banned these potentially/likely harmful and unfairly distributed drugs&techniques, until, testing is universal, every day of race, with sting raids of off-season training camps, and offenders banned for life (like bart giomatti's hammer on pete rose for gambling in baseball) the problem will persist and the greater world public will NOT take the very real accomplishments of these phenomenal &quite beautiful atheletes like contadore&perhapse armstrong seriously.

every one i spoke to in germany over the holidays simply laughed at the grand tour results (which is not fair, as we ALL know, these guys&women work their tails off training &racing.

oh well my two cents...clean it up &dont cheat...cycling exciting enough!
-h;>

It all has quite a jading effect, to the point where I'm more excited about the Kissena sprint train than the pro peloton.

Was talking about this some with Harry during a ride yesterday.

I think the issue is they're blame the horse, not the trainer and owner. The riders just do what they're told, for the most part. They're part of a machine. The trainer or team doctor says, "take this" and they do. And then it's the rider, not the machine that takes the fall.

The problem will go away when managers, sponsors, interests that actually run the teams get penalized along with the riders. They're the ones who have the sophistication, resources and control to keep things clean. Right now, they just gamble using the riders' careers and reputations to settle their losing bets.

When Bruyneel, Armstrong, Crossroad Management and Radio Shack have to go down with guys like Landis, the sport will clean itself up (IMHO of course).

Tyler has written a book....

http://velonews.competitor.com/2012/08/news/hamilton-coyle-to-expose-doping-practices-in-new-book_234516

@Joel: I'm not advocating that we all rush out and start using Androgel, but at the same time SHOUTING to everyone that it poses a threat to others is simply incorrect.
So assuming your kids don't raid the medicine cabinet they are safe. Also the comparison to the article you posted is invalid. The article focused on female hormone creams, rubbed into the wrists and arms that is licked off by pets. Androgel is to be applied to the shoulders and hence typically less exposed (unless one lives in a trailer) and children that feel OK licking their parents are typically taken into care for their own safety.