Tennis twist to Contador doping defence

Alberto Contador's lawyers are using tennis player Richard Gasquet's successful appeal against cocaine use as part of their own defence for a failed Tour de France doping test.

Contador's lawyer Andy Ramos told The Associated Press on Tuesday a decision in cycling's biggest case could come "any day," as the Spanish cycling federation's disciplinary committee determines whether Contador merits a two-year ban after testing positive for clenbuterol.

The three-time Tour champion's defence is he ingested the muscle-building, weight-loss steroid, inadvertently, through contaminated meat.

Contador's lawyers are using several cases relating to other athletes to highlight that Contador did not voluntarily take the steroid.

He will also lose his Tour title if he is found guilty.

French player Gasquet avoided a lengthy ban last year after proving he, inadvertently, ingested cocaine after kissing a woman at a Miami nightclub hours after withdrawing injured from a tournament.

"Not one of the scientists we have worked with has said it couldn't have been anything but contamination," Ramos told the AP in a telephone interview.

"The levels are ridiculous. It couldn't be anything else."

Contador's lawyers are also using the case of Dimitrij Ovtcharov, who was cleared of doping by the German table tennis federation in October.

The Ukrainian-born Ovtcharov successfully argued that tainted meat consumed in China was the reason for his positive test for clenbuterol.

Ovtcharov turned up an "extremely low" concentration of 75 picograms per millilitre in his sample compared to 50 picograms for Contador.

A picogram is one trillionth of a gram.

The World Anti-Doping Agency and the International Tennis Federation attempt to ban Gasquet for two years was overturned after the Court for Arbitration for Sport accepted his claim.

Gasquet did not deny cocaine was in his system, but proved it was not intentionally taken while showing no negligence on his own part. He served a 2½-month suspension.

Contador is in Fuerteventura, Canary Islands, training with his Saxo Bank team, which is preparing for the 2011 season. Contador also won the Tour in 2007 and 2009.