September 30, 2010 (Pinto, Spain) – Spain’s Alberto Contador Velasco (Astana) held a press conference in his home town of Pinto near Madrid today and emphasized that while he tested positive for clenbuterol, that the quantity found in his urine was miniscule according. He also claims innocence because he did not intentionally ingest the drug.

“We are talking of a (tiny) amount of clenbuterol -50 picograms, the equivalent of 0.00000000005 grams per millilitre of urine, or 0.05 nano-grams,” he said, highlighting the tiny amount of the substance that had been found. The 27-year-old winner of the 2007, 2009, and 2010 TdF maintained his story that the clenbuterol came from contaminated meat he had eaten. He claims that other team members also ate the same meat, but so far only Contador seems to have tested positive.

Contador thus does not dispute the positive result, but maintains that the minute quantity of clenbuterol in him would not be enough to boost his performance. Both Contador’s A and B samples tested positive; the cyclist is “formally and provisionally suspended,” according to the UCI. As reported yesterday, the UCI will refrain from making any further comments until the management of this adverse analytical finding has been completed.

“Clenbuterol helps increase the metabolism of the body, and process the conversion of carbohydrates, proteins and fats into useful energy. This drug is known to boost muscle growth and suck out the excess fats caused by some aromatizing steroids. This is popular not only because of its slimming ability but also because of its minimal side effects. When you take Clenbuterol, you are likely to experience restlessness, palpitations, tremor or the involuntary trembling of fingers, headache, excessive sweating, muscle pains, hypertension, nausea and insomnia. These effects usually disappear after few days,” claims the online site, e-steroid.com

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