Greg LeMond questions the validity of Alberto Contador's doping test
Greg LeMond, three-time Tour de France winner and prominent anti-doping advocate, has said that he is surprised at the result of Alberto Contador's positive doping test, which was revealed on Thursday.
LeMond, who had previously questioned Contador's climb up the Verbier mountains in the 2009 edition of the Tour, expressed doubts over whether the Spaniard had knowingly taken a drug that would inevitably show up at the doping control.
“I find it hard to believe that a professional like Alberto Contador would risk a detectable drug," the American told
Cyclingnews.
Contador tested positive for Clenbuterol on July 21, the second day of rest of this year's Tour. The levels found were 400 times lower than the amount the World Anti-Doping Agency requires labs to be able to detect for accreditation.
At a press conference on Thursday, Contador blamed the low levels of Clenbuterol on meat his team had imported from Spain. Lemond went on to say, “I’m all for eliminating drugs...but I don’t think that this is a black and white drug test. Look at the quantities
that he was detected with."
LeMond went on to say that Contador's test revealed some troubling truths about drugs testing in the sport, which too often focuses on substances that are not known to have any notably positive effects on a rider's performance.
“Anything like this is devastating, but this is like someone going positive for marijuana, I don’t think there’s a benefit to it but if it’s on the list, it’s on the list. I’m trying to walk a fine line, but I don’t believe in the transparency of the sport
or that there’s equal treatment for everyone out there. It just blows me away.”
Contador has been handed a provisional ban by the UCI until further analysis.
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