Five days after the UCI said that it would appeal Alberto Contador’s clearing by the Spanish federation RFEC, the World Anti-Doping Agency has confirmed that it too will pursue the matter further.
“The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has filed today a declaration to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne against the Spanish Cycling Federation’s (RFEC) decision in the case of Alberto Contador,” it said in a statement.
“Mr. Contador was acquitted following a positive test for clenbuterol during an in-competition test carried out on July 21, 2010.”
WADA has confirmed to VeloNation that the appeal is separate to that lodged by the UCI. This would presumably mean that it can submit its own arguments against the RFEC’s clearing of the rider. The two organisations previously teamed up in their CAS appeal against Alejandro Valverde.
Contador is currently competing with the Saxo Bank-SunGard team, and won the Volta a Catalunya on Sunday. He has also triumphed in the Vuelta a Murcia, and is building towards targeted races such as Flèche Wallonne and the Giro d’Italia.
The timescale of a CAS appeal means that he is free to race until at least June. CAS recently told VeloNation that it was possible for the appeal process to be completed before the Tour de France, providing both sides cooperate to move things forward.
The rider has said that he wants to compete again in the Tour, going for what would be his fourth victory. Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme has however said that he wants a decision to be made by CAS prior to the start of the race.
WADA had over two weeks left before its deadline for appeal, but has moved quickly to file the declaration. This should in turn lead to a quicker final decision.