Alberto Contador is set to lose one of his three Tour de France titles after being banned for two years by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Monday for failing a dope test during the 2010 race. Contador, the Tour winner in 2007, 2009 and 2010 who tested positive for the banned anabolic agent clenbuterol, also faces losing his 2011 Giro d'Italia title and all the other victories he claimed last season.
The Spaniard's Tour title will be handed to Luxembourg's Andy Schleck, with Briton Bradley Wiggins climbing on to the podium and Russian Denis Menchov finishing second. Italy's Michele Scarponi is set to take the Giro 2011 title. "Alberto Contador is sanctioned with a two-year period of ineligibility starting retroactively on 25 January 2011, minus the period of provisional suspension served in 2010-2011 (5 months and 19 days)," CAS said in a statement. "The suspension should therefore come to an end on 5 August 2012." The ban means that the 29-year-old Contador, who had threatened to end his career if found guilty, will miss this year's Tour de France and the London Olympic Games.