Alberto Contador’s defence that he tested positive for Clenbuterol during the Tour de France because he consumed tainted meat is under serious question, according to Spanish newspaper El Pais, due to tests carried out by the World Anti-Doping Agency WADA.
The paper claims that WADA carried out analyses of meat in the town of Irun, where Contador’s friend José Luis López-Cerrón claimed he bought the steak later eaten by the race leader. Meat from the butcher was analysed and so too meat from the slaughterhouse which supplies the meat; neither showed any signs of the chemical, which has been used in the past by farmers wishing to bulk up cattle.
The newspaper claims to have seen the WADA report sent to the Spanish Cycling Federation RFEC by the UCI, and says this casts serious doubt on meat as a source of the drug.
It says the WADA report also mentions a European study carried out on approximately 300,000 samples of meat in 2008. Just one showed traces of Clenbuterol, making its use virtually unheard of. No traces were found in Spain.
Putting these statistics aside for the sake of discussion, the WADA report considers the possibility that a cow injected with clenbuterol could cause a positive test. Citing a study by the Veterinary Institute and the Faculty of Food Technology in Zagreb (Croatia) with pigs fed with Clenbuterol, which was published last June in the journal Meat Science, it says that a high level of Clenbuterol can enter the system of the consumer if the animal is killed one day after injection.
If the animal is killed one week before being eaten, the traces are still enough to trigger a positive test. However, after two weeks, there is not enough Clenbuterol left to cause detection.
El Pais quotes WADA’s report as stating that animals are never slaughtered soon after being injected. “Obviously,” states the report, “farmers who cheat will never sacrifice cattle which have been illegally fattened up less than 20 days after the last dose of Clenbuterol for two reasons: to avoid being caught by tests on meat and to allow the anabolic [substance] in those last days to take full effect in the fattening.”
The report also rules out an inhaler as being the source of the substance. It states that Contador’s asthma means he can use various bronchodilators under a TUE (therapeutic use exemption), but not Clenbuterol.
The news would appear to be a serious blow to the defence put forward by the rider. Contador said that he ate meat bought in Irun and taken across the border, and says this was the source of the Clenbuterol found in his system. His representatives reportedly have a receipt for the meat.
The Basque Regional Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has categorically denied that meat products from the region could have led to his positive test for Clenbuterol, saying that tests carried out ensure that farmers don’t use illegal methods when raising cattle.
Contador took his third edition of the Tour in July, but later learned that he had tested positive on the second rest day of the event. He faces a possible lengthy ban plus the loss of his title.