Somebody wants to kill cycling: Merckx

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) yesterday handed down the ban and stripped the 29-year-old Spaniard of his 2010 Tour de France title.

The ruling is backdated and Contador can resume racing on 6 August 2012.

Speaking from the Tour of Qatar as the developments unfolded Merckx expressed his concern about the negative impact the decision could have on the sport - the growing international popularity for which he saw firsthand at the Tour Down Under in Australia last month in terms of crowd and field figures.

“It’s very bad for cycling and it’s very bad for everybody,” Merckx said. “It’s like somebody wants to kill cycling.”

The decision ends an almost two-year saga that began when Contador tested positive for minute traces of clenbuterol at the 2010 Tour for which a public announcement was made in September the same year.

Merckx said he was very surprised with the ruling adding it was absolutely excessive.

“I’m surprised because after two years like that and also the quantity that they found can only happen in cycling, in other sports they never really go so far,” he said.

“With the quantity that they found it’s really stupid. They go zero, zero, zero, zero, zero, zero you can always find something in every body at that point.”

Contador has claimed he ingested the substance via contaminated meat.

Merckx when asked to comment on the defence said: “That’s not credible too but I have to wait to see what the experts say, the reason why.”

Once a three-time Tour runner-up Andy Schleck (RadioShack - Nissan) is now set to inherit the 2010 title but says he has “no reason to be happy now”.

“First of all I feel sad for Alberto. I always believed in his innocence. This is just a very sad day for cycling. The only positive news is that there is a verdict after 566 days of uncertainty. We can finally move on,” a statement from Schleck read.

“I trust that the CAS judges took all things into consideration after reading a 4000-page file. If now I am declared overall winner of the 2010 Tour de France it will not make me happy. I battled with Contador in that race and I lost. My goal is to win the Tour de France in a sportive way, being the best of all competitors, not in court. If I succeed this year, I will consider it as my first Tour victory.”

Twitter: @SophieSmith86

Sophie Smith is in Qatar as a guest of Amaury Sport Organisation