Organisers of the Giro d’ Italia dejected by the time taken in Contador’s decision
Organisers of the 2012 Giro d’ Italia, RCS Sport has shown disappointment towards the long time taken in Contador’s decision.
The Spaniard was given a two-year ban earlier this month which prevents him from riding the Giro d’ Italia and the Tour de France 2012.
The cyclist was accused of using clenbuterol during the Tour de France 2010 and both UCI and WADA appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport to take the decision.
The case experienced a lot of delays and Contador was allowed to race until the final verdict was given by the judges.
In the meanwhile, Alberto won the Giro d’ Italia 2011 to claim yet another Grand Tour win. He also claimed the fifth overall position at the Tour de France 2011.
CAS not only handed a two-year ban to the cyclist but also disqualified him from all the victories since the 2010 edition of the French Grand Tour.
Contador is hence stripped off from a number of victories including the Tour de France 2010 and the Giro d’ Italia 2011.
Disqualifying the Spaniard from the overall Giro win means the second place finisher, Michele Scarponi is the new winner of the race and organisers need to design a new trophy for the 2012 version of the race.
RCS sports briefed in a statement, "RCS Sport, the organisers of the Giro d'Italia, acknowledge the decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sport regarding Alberto Contador".
"However we feel it is important to highlight how the time taken to reach a final verdict has affected events like the Giro d'Italia, held so long after the start of the case”, it continues.
On the other hand, Scarponi acknowledged the CAS decision and also shared his grievances for Contador, "Together with my team, Lampre-ISD, I acknowledge the decision taken by CAS on the Contador case", he said.
Alberto will now return to professional cycling on August 5th and will miss most of the major races of the season.
The only big race available for the cyclist is the Vuelta a Espana 2012 as the ban will prevent him from riding the Tour, Giro and the London Olympics 2012.
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