Cleared of Clenbuterol doping on Tuesday by the Danish Sports Federation (DIF), Philip Neilsen has said that Alberto Contador’s positive test for the same substance may have enabled him the Dane to shake off the charges.
“His case has of course been that big and has had much attention, so in that way he has drawn a large share of the load and done some of the rough work, "said Nielsen to Feyens.dk.
However he also accepted that it could have worked out the other way, with the near- year long gap between his test and his clearing being potentially linked to the Tour champion’s situation.
“It may have helped to drag the processing of my case on, [so] that one should look at how this much larger case would end,” said the Dane.
The former Team Concordia Forsikring – Himmerland rider tested positive for Clenbuterol during the Vuelta a Mexico in April 2010. He was suspended by the UCI in September of 2010, but it took another few months before a disciplinary committee was asked to consider his case.
The DIF has done so, and now come back with a decision. He’s pleased with the verdict, but also frustrated that it took so long.
“I'm still annoyed that I was one of the very first to have such a case here, and now I'm one of the very last to be acquitted,” he explained. “But it is a very happy day for me now that I have been right in [saying] that it was involuntary, that I had the substance in my body [that way].”
Some are saying that his clearing bodes well for Contador, who will learn on or before Thursday if the UCI is indeed going to appeal his clearing by the Spanish cycling federation. However while there are similarities in the case, there is also a clear difference; Neilsen tested positive at a race in Mexico, where there is known to be a lot of Clenbuterol contamination in food stuffs.
Contador is claiming his Clenbuterol source was meat. However there is a very limited incidence of detected use in Europe, leading some to be more sceptical.
The UCI must make its decision by March 24th. WADA can also appeal, but its deadline is not as close.