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On the last rest day of July's Tour de France, Alberto Contador tested positive for small quantities of a banned substance, the . Although the 27-year-old Spaniard insists that the positive was due to food contamination, he now faces the prospect of a two-year ban from cycling and the revocation of his most recent Tour title.
Contador said that he unwittingly consumed meat tainted with clenbuterol, a muscle-building drug, at the Astana team's hotel the night before the test was administered. The positive analysis of two urine samples was released on August 24, and Contador has been suspended until further tests are completed.
The cyclist has been quick and consistent in his claims of innocence.
“I will not allow a thing like this to destroy everything,” he said.
–Riley Blanton