Alberto Contador confident ahead of hearing against him
Tour de France winner Alberto Contador has expressed his optimism after reviewing the dossier on his doping case, which was submitted to the Spanish Cycling Federation (RFEC) on Monday, 8 November.
Contador is currently serving a provisional ban handed to him by the International Cycling Union (UCI) after testing positive for Clenbuterol at this year's Tour.
The Spaniard has claimed that his intake of the substance was inadvertent and the result of eating meat imported from Spain during the race.
After reviewing the dossier, which was prepared by the UCI and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), Contador said the documentation will aid his defence in the RFEC hearings.
"I am pleased that the case has come before the Federation because means we can move forward," Contador said in a statement issued by spokesperson Jacinto Vidarte.
"The dossier prepared by the UCI and World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) focuses on the hypothesis of food contamination, as expected by the rider’s defence. Thus, according to documents submitted by the UCI and WADA, food contamination remains the only reasonable
explanation from a scientific point of view to justify the presence of the tiny amount of Clenbuterol in the body of the rider during the past Tour France."
Contador has hired Swiss lawyer Rocco Taminelli, who helped clear Italian rider Franco Pellizotti of the UCI's charges against him at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) earlier this year.
The volume of the documentation and the time needed for Contador's defence to prepare their case has led to speculation that the hearings could take several months before reaching a conclusion, but the statement said the intention of the defence is to move
forward as swiftly as possible.
"[The defence team is] working with the hope of a verdict in the shortest possible time, with the objective that Alberto Contador can begin the next cycling season without any impediment."
Tags: