Brian Canty takes a look at the key events surrounding Alberto Contador’s clenbuterol case.
The whole episode, which fellow professional David Millar has labelled as 'farcical' enter its third calendar year and after 566 days, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has finally reached a decision which finds the Spaniard guilty of doping.
2010
July 19: Contador takes the maillot jeune from Andy Schleck after the latter suffered the misfortune of a mechanical on the road from Pamiers to Bagnères-de-Luchon on the 15th stage. The affair gets labelled the 'chaingate affair'. Schleck announces in anger that evening 'I will take my revenge on the Tourmalet'.
July 20: Allegedly eats contaminated meat in a restaurant after a friend of the Astana team chef had complained of poor quality meat at the hotel where the team was staying.
July 21: Allegedly eats contaminated meat again. Is randomly drug tested on the second rest day, in Pau. His samples showed the presence of the banned substance Clenbuterol at 50 picograms per millilitre. Clenbuterol is used in livestock animals (illegaly) to reduce body fat and increase muscle mass.
July 22: Contador all but secures victory after he and Andy Schleck play out a thrilling battle on the high mountains up to the summit of the Tourmalet. Schleck takes the win but Contador is stuck to his wheel in second.
July 25: Contador wins his third Tour, beating the Luxembourger by a mere 39 seconds - the same margin Contador beat Schleck by on Stage 15.
August 3: Signs for SaxoBank-SunGard.
August 24: Contador learns of the positive test.
August 26: Meets with UCI. "On the 26th we talked at length about how all this had happened. The UCI itself told me to my face that it was a case of food contamination," Contador said. He said he has been in talks with the UCI ever since "to handle this the most appropriate way possible and analyse it and see clearly that it is a case of food contamination in which I am the victim." Requests B sample.
September 8: B sample analysis complete, confirms traces of clenbuterol. According to the UCI "For additional safety, considering the very low concentration detected, the UCI continued scientific investigations in collaboration with WADA. In particular, it conducted a series of new analyses on all the blood and urine samples taken from the rider in the period in question."
September 30: Contador received provisional suspension by the International Cycling Union (UCI) after testing positive for a "very small concentration" of clenbuterol.
September 30: "You can put your hand in the fire and not get burned... If it had been a clear case of doping it would have come out that week. The food poisoning occurred due to a eating a steak that had come from Spain," protested Contador.
Contador speaks at a press conference in Spain, again claiming the meat he ate on July 20 and 21 was contaminated. Some experts agreed with this explanation, using the small amount of the substance found in Contador's system as evidence.
September 30: Johan Bruyneel, Contador's former manager at Astana announces his support for the embattled Spaniard.
October 1: UCI President Pat McQuaid declines to comment about the Contador story, saying only that "the [testing] system works."
October 1: Contador tells Reuters that "the system is in doubt and should be changed." He also said he's "at rock bottom" because of the stress caused by the situation.
October 2: Speaking at the UCI Road World Championships in Geelong, Australia, McQuaid says "I think there is a problem in Spain because a large percentage of our doping cases come from Spain."
October 3: In an interview with TV2 Sport, Contador says the UCI told him to remain quiet about his test results after he was informed of the situation on August 24.
October 6: Dr. Jordi Segura, the head of the IOC accredited laboratory in Barcelona, claims Contador's urine sample had an abnormal amount of plasticizer in it, which could be an indication that Contador underwent a blood transfusion, but he refused to say whether this was the case.
October 7: Paco Olalla, the cook who prepared the steak which Contador claimed contained the clenbuterol says he has no doubt about the Spaniard's innocence at the Tour.
October 8: Contador threatens to take legal action against some sections of the media for defamation after what his press officer called "information published... due to their absolute lack of veracity."
October 14: The World Anti-Doping Agency rejects Contador's defence that his positive test was the result of contaminated meat.
October 23: Contador says: 'I'm thinking about quitting cycling when all of this ends. It's not worth it,"
November 8: The UCI asks the Spanish federation to open disciplinary proceedings against Contador for failing a drug test.
November 17: According to a report in Spanish newspaper El País, WADA says that it has tested the meat from the butchers in northern Spain where Contador's steak was bought and found no traces of clenbuterol.
November 22: Spain's leading association of beef producers, the Asociación Española de Productores de Carne de Vacuno (ASOPROVAC), criticises Alberto Contador's claims that his positive test for clenbuterol was caused by contaminated meat purchased in Spain and calls for a formal investigation to ascertain the facts in the case.
November 26: Contador submits his official defence in the doping case, including new documentation he claims will show the positive test came from eating contaminated meat.
2011
January 26: Contador is suspended for one year by the Spanish Cycling Federation.
January 28: Contador holds a press conference and re-iterates his innocence saying he has "never doped" and will appeal the sanction. "I will do whatever is necessary to defend my innocence to the end," Contador said at the press conference. "The penalty is not fair."
February 11: Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero tweets that "there is no judicial reason to sanction Alberto Contador".
February 15: Contador announces he has been officially cleared by the Spanish cycling federation and has been authorised to return to competition immediately." According to media reports the competitions committee of the Royal Spanish Cycling Federation (RFCE), Contador was exonerated on the basis that he could prove that he had inadvertently ingested a banned product through no fault or negligence on his part.
February 17: Contador describes the decision to clear him as "a great step forward for the sport".
February 19: French anti-doping expert and co-founder of the UCI-adopted biological passport states that Contador's samples should be re-tested. He claims the Spaniard is not free just yet.
February 25: Contador's legal team reveal the deficiencies in regulations for testing meat for contamination. A defence that saw the star rider exonerated by the Spanish cycling federation.
March 3: Contador vows to contest any appeal against RFCE's decision to clear him and says that Spain is "at the forefront of anti-doping".
March 5: The UCI set a deadline of March 24 for a decision on whether they will appeal against Contador's clearance by the RFEC.
March 24: The UCI announce they are to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) over the dismissal of doping charges against Contador.
March 30: WADA announce their own separate appeal to CAS.
March 31: CAS says it hopes to have concluded the case by the end of June in time for the Tour.
May 13: UCI's 'suspicious list', in which 2010 Tour de France riders were scored according the likelihood of them doping, leaked. Contador is given a score of five out of ten.
May 20: CAS state that Contador's case will be heard three weeks before the Tour de France.
May 26: CAS postpone Contador's hearing, without giving an alternative date.
May 29: Contador wins the 2011 Giro.
June 6: WADA director general advises Contador to skip the Tour de France.
June 11: Contador announces he will be riding the Tour.
June 27: Belgian legend Eddy Merckx slams the delaying of the Contador case.
June 30: Contador is given a hostile reception at the teams presentation prior to the Tour.
July 24: Contador ends up coming fifth and cites fatigue as the reason for not placing higher.
July 26: CAS postpone Contador hearing again - this time until November.
August 27: Dates for the hearing are set from November 21-24.
October 5: Contador stresses his confidence of being successful at the hearing.
November 14: CAS insider states that verdict may not be announced until next January.
November 21: Hearing starts in Lausanne, Switzerland.
November 22: Gazzetta dello Sport reports that American psychologist Louis Rovner gave evidence on behalf of Contador. According to the Italian daily newspaper, Rovner performed a polygraph test (lie-detector test) on the Spaniard during a trip to the States last Spring, in which he denied ever having a transfusion.
November 23: Several of Contador's former team-mates give evidence at the hearing.
November 24: Hearing concludes.
February 6: Contador is found guilty of ingesting the banned substance clenbuterol and banned for two years. He will be eligible to race again in September but he loses his 2010 Tour de France jersey as well as his 2011 Giro d’Italia title along with a raft of other jerseys.
Source: http://feeds.examiner.ie/~r/iesportsblog/~3/5JgD_ufbkQs/post.aspx
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