Tour de France champion Alberto Contador speaks during a press conference at his hometown of Pinto, near Madrid September 30, 2010. Contador has been provisionally suspended for returning an "adverse analytical finding" of clenbuterol from a urine sample taken during the race, the International Cycling Union (UCI) said on Thursday. REUTERS/Sergio Perez (SPAINSPORT - Tags: SPORT CYCLING)
As shocking as it sounds, the cycling world was yet again rocked Thursday by the news that a star name has tested positive for a banned substance. But fear not, there’s a simple explanation!
Alberto Contador, the three time Tour de France winner, and reigning champ, tested positive for the muscle-building and fat-burning drug clenbuterol during this year’s Tour. But in a press conference he gave Thursday, the greatest cyclist of his generation blamed the misdemeanor on contaminated food. “It is a food contamination case of which I am the victim,” he said.
The 27 year-old Spaniard said the meat was brought across the border from Spain to France during a rest day in July, adding that there had been complaints about the food at the hotel where the team was staying. He told Spanish radio station Cadena Cope:, “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. Contador then called the UCI’s suspension of him “a true mistake.” Fans of his, and sports fans in general, will hope that’s the case. (See TIME’s Top 10 Sporting Cheats)