Spain’s Alberto Contador held on to the leader’s jersey in the Tour of Catalonia on Thursday, hours after cycling’s governing body revived a doping case against the three-time Tour de France champion.
Portugal’s Manuel Cardoso of the Radioshack team claimed Thursday’s fourth stage, a 195km race from La Seu d’Urgell to El Vendrell in northeastern Spain.
The 27-year-old edged Italy’s Giacomo Nizzolo of the Leopard Trek team and Spain’s Jose Rojas of Movistar in a mass sprint finish in which all but two of the 179 riders had the same time as the winner.
However, it was Contador who was the center of attention after the International Cycling Union (UCI) earlier announced it would appeal the Spanish federation’s decision to acquit him of doing allegations.
He had tested positive for a tiny amount of the banned muscle-building substance clenbuterol during last July’s Tour de France, which he went on to win.
However, he was cleared to compete when the Spanish cycling federation (RFEC) last month rescinded an initial decision to hand down a one-year ban, accepting the rider’s claim that he had unknowingly eaten drug-contaminated meat.
The 28-year-old rider appeared to accept the UCI’s decision.
“I am among those who believe that if things happen it’s because they have to happen and maybe it should go to the CAS who will make my innocence even clearer,” he told reporters in Spain.
“It’s not a situation that I like but I have full confidence in the arguments that my lawyers have presented,” he said.
UCI chief Pat McQuaid said the organization had been left with no choice but to appeal the decision by RFEC to clear Contador.
McQuaid said he believes the case has suffered from political interference in Spain.
He insisted the UCI was doing the right thing by appealing the RFEC decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), to ensure the fairest possible outcome.
“The only way to ensure that we get a credible and just and fair result is to take it to a higher authority, which for us is CAS, that has credibility, that has the capacity to deal with this case and which the sports family will accept,” McQuaid said.
“I’m aware he [Contador] is going to make a strong [defense] case ... but the way the proceedings went in Spain meant that we really had no option to do what we did,” he said.
“They [RFEC] also received a huge amount of pressure from political sources, including the prime minister, saying he shouldn’t be sanctioned,” McQuaid said.
“Obviously he’s an athlete of very high standing in Spain, but when you get the Spanish prime minister and the president of the Spanish Olympic Committee intervening and making statements when they don’t know the facts of the case, it’s just not right,” he said.
A seven-year-old horse had to be euthanized on Friday after breaking its back on the final fence of a Grand National steeplechase race that it won despite sustaining the serious injury. It follows the death of four horses at the Cheltenham Festival last month — including one after the prestigious Gold Cup. Gold Dancer was competing in the Mildmay Novices’ Chase during Ladies Day at Aintree’s Grand National Festival. The horse managed to cross the finish line approximately four lengths ahead of runner-up Regent’s Stroll. “The winner of our second race of the day, Gold Dancer, was pulled up after
Taiwanese gymnast Tang Chia-hung on Sunday topped the men’s horizontal bar event at the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) World Cup in Osijek, Croatia, scoring 15.233 to take his third title this season. Tang delivered an outstanding performance in the final, earning a difficulty score of 6.500 and an execution score of 8.633 with a 0.1 stick bonus. His closest competitor was Milad Karimi of Kazakhstan, who finished second with 14.933 points. It was Tang’s third gold medal in the FIG World Cup series this year, following his horizontal bar wins in Azerbaijan on March 8, and in Turkey on March
The Daredevils yesterday took eight catches in the final as they eked out a victory in the Taiwan Cricket Triangular Tournament against PCCT at Yingfeng Cricket Ground in Taipei’s Songshan District. PCCT’s batting lineup collapsed after they asked the Daredevils to bowl in the T20 decider of the weekend tournament that also involved the Formosa Cricket Club. PCCT were bundled out for 76 in 16.2 overs against a disciplined Daredevils attack. Ninad Malwade was the top scorer in the innings with 21, but he was among those who offered chances to the fielders. Shane Ferreira and Jason Cameron took three wickets each, with
OBJECTIVE REACHED: ’Now for us, it’s about getting healthy, making sure everybody is ready to go, and we can ramp up,’ the Atlanta Hawks’ C.J. McCollum said after the game The Atlanta Hawks on Friday secured an NBA playoff berth with a 124-102 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers as the Boston Celtics locked up the Eastern Conference second seed with a lopsided win of their own. C.J. McCollum scored a game-high 29 points for the Hawks, who came into the contest at sixth in the East and still in danger of falling into the play-in tournament that would see the seventh-through 10th-placed teams battle for the last two playoff berths in each conference. Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Jalen Johnson scored 18 points apiece, and Dyson Daniels added a triple-double of 13
RSS