Will Alberto Contador Lose His Tour de France Title?
The sport of cycling took another hit this week when it was revealed that three-time Tour de France champion Alberto Contador tested positive for clenbuterol during his Tour win this past July. The amount of the drug found in the Spanish cyclist’s body has been estimated at 50 picograms — a nearly undetectable amount. Contador has claimed that the drug came from eating tainted filet mignon on the day before the failed test. But that might not matter. The key here is the World Anti-Doping Code, which governs all doping cases in professional cycling. One of the code’s major tenets is the concept of strict liability — that an athlete is responsible for everything that enters his body, no matter how or when. To quote the Code: 2.1.1 It is each Athlete’s personal duty to ensure that no Prohibited Substance enters his or her body. Athletes are responsible for any Prohibited Substance or its Metabolites or Markers found to be present in their Samples. Accordingly, it is not necessary that int
