体坛英语新闻：Contador stresses innocence over dope test

MADRID, Sept. 30 (Xinhua) -- Alberto Contador Thursday appeared at a press conference to proclaim his innocence over accusations of doping in the Tour de France cycle race.

Contador this summer won the three-week long race for the third time, holding off the challenge of Luxembourg's Andy Schleck, but that victory has now been soured with the news that he tested positive for the banned substance clenbuterol, a drug used for respiratory problems.

The positive was taken on July 21, the day before Contador held off Schleck's attacks on the hardest stage of the race, which climbed the Tourmalet mountain on two occasions.

Riding for the Astana cycling team, Contador won the overall race by the narrow margin of 39 seconds ahead of Schleck.

The rider's immediate reaction to the publication of the news of his positive test was to issue a communique stating that the positive was the result of contaminated food.

"He has put the affair into the hands of cycling authorities in the confidence that this serious problem can be cleared up now that it has been made public," said the communique.

However, the rider, who has won the Tour three times, in 2007, 2009 and 2010 as well as triumphing in the 2008 Giro de Italia and Vuelta de Espana, was more outspoken this Thursday.

"It is important to send a clear message and for it to be distributed, both for my good and the good of the sport, because this is a social problem. This is the consequence of a quantity of celmbuterol in an anti doping control taken in the Tour de France on the afternoon of July 21. We are talking of a millesima (tiny) part of clembuterol -50 picograms, the equivalent of 0,00000000005 grams per milliliter of urine, or 0.05 nano-grams," he said, highlighting the tiny amount of the substance that had been found, before repeating how he had eaten some contaminated food.

"The UCI (International Cycling Union) told me of the appearance of the sample on the afternoon of August 24, on the 26th I met the UCI medical team and I explained what had happened. The UCI confirmed that it was a case of contaminated food," he said.