November 29, 2010 (Berlin, Germany) – Floyd Landis commented this weekend on the controversy surrounding three-time Tour de France winner Alberto Contador Velasco (Esp) Astana and his positive clenbuterol doping test this summer. Landis, who finished first at the 2006 TdF only to have his medal stripped away after a positive doping test for synthetic testosterone, also took aim at the UCI.

Landis claimed to know pro cyclists who are taking clenbuterol and suggested that, despite tighter doping controls, the chances of getting caught are still ‘quite small.’ He reiterated his allegations that seven-time TdF winner Lance Armstrong doped throughout his career. But his sharpest criticism was aimed at the UCI in which he claimed Pat McQuaid and his predecessor, Hein Verbruggen, “protected” top riders in the TdF peloton. He categorized this as manipulation and a way of creating stars.

Contador will have to explain himself before the Spanish cycling federation. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) is also threatening to appeal an expected acquittal of Contador to the international Court of Arbitration in Sport (CAS).

Contador rode for Astana when he won the 2010 TdF, but has since signed a two-year contract worth an estimated Ⓤ4.5 million ($6.1 million CDN) a year with Team Saxo Bank-SunGard. The UCI announced Contador’s positive clenbuterol test shortly after that. Meanwhile, it seems that the trace amount of clenbuterol found in Contador’s urine was 40 times below the minimum standards, not 400 times lower as originally announced by the UCI, according to Wikipedia.

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