The suspension means that Saxo Bank stand to lose all of Contador's UCI points during the banned period in which he won numerous races, including the Giro d'Italia. More than two thirds of the teams' points come from Contador (68 percent to be exact) and such a slip in the rankings means that the UCI will ask the team to appear before the Commission in the coming days.
Section 2.15.040.2 of the UCI rules states a ProTour licence may be withdrawn "if the information taken into account in granting the licence or the registration of the UCI ProTeam has changed such that the issue conditions are no longer fulfilled, or the commission considers that the new situation does not justify the issue of a licence or registration". Without Contador's points, Saxo Bank's sporting qualification to be a ProTour team will come under review.
Hours earlier Saxo Bank issued a short press release following the news that its rider Alberto Contador has been handed a two-year suspension by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
The Danish team signed Contador in 2010, before it was announced that he’d tested positive for clenbuterol at that year’s Tour de France. The team supported the Spaniard and raced him throughout the 2011 season as he picked up numerous wins and UCI points.
"After what has been a very tough situation for our team, today we have finally received the result of the CAS hearing in the case regarding Alberto Contador."
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"The result was obviously not, what we had hoped for, but for now our management team is still in the process of reviewing the ruling and the documentation so we can better understand the decision," team manager Bjarne Riis said.
Contador’s ban is back-dated to 2010, and he will be cleared to race by August 5.
Contador and Saxo Bank team manager Bjarne Riis have called a press conference for tomorrow evening in Madrid.
Daniel Benson was the Editor in Chief at Cyclingnews.com between 2008 and 2022. Based in the UK, he joined the Cyclingnews team in 2008 as the site's first UK-based Managing Editor. In that time, he reported on over a dozen editions of the Tour de France, several World Championships, the Tour Down Under, Spring Classics, and the London 2012 Olympic Games. With the help of the excellent editorial team, he ran the coverage on Cyclingnews and has interviewed leading figures in the sport including UCI Presidents and Tour de France winners.
