Having indicted earlier this week that Alberto Contador’s loss of race results could potentially impact on his Saxo Bank team’s place in the UCI WorldTour, the UCI has now confirmed that it has asked its Licence Commission to examine the issue.
Contador lost all of his race results since the 2010 Tour de France after the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled that he was culpable for the Clenbuterol detected in his system during that race. It decided that a contaminated food supplement was the most likely source, and handed him a backdated two year ban.
The UCI’s Professional Cycling Council [PCC] met yesterday and today in Geneva, Switzerland, and commented on the situation.
“The PCC took note that further to the CAS decision earlier this week concerning Alberto Contador, the UCI will today ask its Licence Commission to issue a ruling on whether the Saxo Bank-Sungard team should retain its place in the UCI WorldTour,” it said.
“If the points obtained by Alberto Contador, representing approximately 68% of the Saxo Bank-Sungard team's total points, are disregarded, his team would no longer be considered to fulfil the sporting criterion required for the UCI WorldTour.”
UCI spokesman Enrico Carpani has confirmed to VeloNation that the final decision will not be made for some time, as the commission will need to arrange a meeting with team representatives.
A representative for ASO, the organisers of the Tour de France, stated earlier this week that if the Saxo Bank team loses its UCI ProTeam licence, that it would have to apply for wildcard status like Pro Continental teams, and wouldn’t be guaranteed to get a place.
“It is ASO’s management which will take the decision,” Christophe Marchadier told Sporten.dk. “And that means that Bjarne Riis must wait until March before he is told. No wildcards will be awarded in advance.”
Alberto Contador today released a photo of himself training at home. As his contract with the Saxo Bank team has been ended due to his ban, he must use standard clothing rather than the team kit, and was clad in a plain jersey and shorts.
“Going back to work, sacrifice and hard training, this is our sole secret,” he said in a Twitter message.
He won’t be able to return to racing until August 6th, meaning he will miss both the Tour de France and the London Olympic Games. His Saxo Bank team has said it would like to bring him back on board then, and has stated that it believes he is interested in resuming his contract with that squad.