Justice served, but way too late

It's been a good day for anti-doping as this morning the tortoise in the relay race in the case against Alberto Contador that has seen the baton pass from the UCI to WADA to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) finally crossed the finishing line with a decision on the guilt of the beef eating Spaniard. The hammer of justice came thumping down with a "guilty, guilty, guilty" verdict and a two year ban, which by the mathematical calculations of CAS, expires on August 5th, of this year.

Nearly 19 whole months after Contador sat down for a medium-rare stake at a hotel in Pau, Southern France, he has finally been banned for showing trace amounts of the banned bronchodilator, Clenbuterol. For those brave souls who want to get to the bone of the CAS ruling you can do so in their 98-page novel that has been released as part of the case closing.

Despite the panel dismissing the theory that plasticizers found in his sample signalled that Contador had been blood doping, the panel did rule him unable to prove that his meat was contaminated by some Spanish farmer engaging in shady beef production.

"Mr. Contador did not prove but should prove that he did ingest the specific meat he refers to for the meat contamination and that such meat contained the banned substance," blasted the panel, though it's hard to see how Contador could ever have reached such proof.

That the ban expires conveniently in time for Contador to win the Vuelta a Espana later this year is down to the fact he served time during a provisional suspension right after the story broke. His suspension therefore officially began on January 25, 2011 and any results and prizes earned afterwards have been struck from cycling records. They may take his jerseys, his medals or his fourth place finish in the Tour de France, but they cannot take back the kisses he earned from the podium girls.

Why they didn't just strip all his results between January 2003 and January 2005 and call that period his ban, allowing him to get back to racing immediately is beyond me, though this back dated banning for time served and what not is surely the result of a wish to make an example of him but not actually keep him out of the sport for too long.

As a result of the positive test for which he is at last guilty, Contador has lost his 2010 Tour de France and Giro d'Italia victories, but instead of leaving the winners of these events blank, both perennial second place man Andy Schleck, and Italian Michele Scarponi have been promoted to the top step of an imaginary podium. Way to win your first Tour, Andy.

"There is no reason to be happy now," commented Andy Schleck while popping the cork in a 2010 bottle of champagne. "I battled with Contador in that race and I lost. My goal is to win the Tour de France in a sportive way, being the best of all competitors, not in court," he continued without highlighting the fact that by doping, Contador didn't beat him in a sportive way either. "If I succeed this year, I will consider it as my first Tour victory." Scarponi, as well as those elevated into podium positions (John Gadret in the Giro and Bradley Wiggins in the Tour) blabbed much the same responses as is per expectation when you gain a result in this manor.

A man familiar with gaining a retrospective victory, Oscar Pereiro, a good buddy of Contador's, was left furious about the decision. "Do you know what I think? He is innocent, I know him," he screamed over Twitter. "Hopefully he will go through with this to the end and then we will see who we pay for and who does their job like shit." I do believe however that Pereriro is still happy enough about winning the Tour himself through the retrospective disqualification of Floyd Landis in 2006.

It is believed that Contador will not actually retire after threatening to do so if he were ever found guilty, now that push has come to shove, and when his ban is served and he is free to race again we will see him do so.