Contodor has just received a 12 month ban demonstrating he has doped. The length of the ban though is concerning. Doping carries a mandatory 2 year ban not one. One year bans just haven't been given out before. So, why twelve months. Is it to encourage an appeal, if so he has ten days to lodge one, if he does, will it continue beyond July to allow to race for his fourth title? There are still likely to be chapters left in this tale. Contador has always said he will give up cycling if he is found guilty. This to me just sounds like a naughty child trying to get out of trouble. He has a press conference tomorrow so perhaps we will learn more. It won't be easy though... it is a zero tolerance approach to doping. If it is in your system, no matter how minute, it is up to the athlete to prove they are not guilt of knowingly using the drug.
Where does this leave other riders? Well hopefully turning down any drug offered to them and competing on their own merits. Armstrong is still facing indictment after the admissions of Landis and claims that Armstrong personally gave him drugs. The difference for him is that, as he was sponsored by US Postal he faces charges of defrauding the US government. A more substantial charge than Contodor's.
My argument though remains the same. If Contodor has been convicted with so small an amount of the drug in his body that some scientists say the test should not be valid surely Armstrong, as the most tested athlete on the planet and the extraordinary lengths the French went to to find traces of drugs in his blood (often over years), would have been caught during his tours. If you want to know more on my opinion read the blog 'cold case detectives' from late last year. For now let's see what happens tomorrow.
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