Alberto Contador Stripped Of Tour De France Title

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Days after U.S. prosecutors dropped their investigation of doping claims against Lance Armstrong, fellow Tour de France champion Alberto Contador was stripped of his 2010 title when sports  highest court rejected the Spanish cyclist’s story that contaminated meat caused him to fail a drug test.

The 29-year-old Contador, who also won the Tour in 2007 and ’09, tested positive for clenbuterol during a Tour rest day in July 2010. Contador’s ban was backdated to Jan. 25, 2011 – making him eligible to return on Aug. 6.

Contador had been thought likely to challenge Armstrong’s record of seven career Tour victories. Instead, he joins Floyd Landis as the only riders stripped of their Tour titles after testing positive for banned performance-enhancing drugs. Andy Schleck of Luxembourg is now in line to take Contador’s 2010 title.

Contador will miss the Giro d’Italia, the Tour de France and the London Olympics, but can ride in the Spanish Vuelta, which begins Aug. 18. He will be stripped of all results from races in which he participated since Jan. 25, 2011 – the day the Spanish federation proposed a one-year ban. That period includes his Giro d’Italia victory last season.