So, now Alberto Contador, arguably the top Grand Tour rider in the world right now, gets wrapped up in a positive B-sample.  Funny enough, the outrage from the peloton seems to be a bit muted right now.  Many of the reactions I’ve read are “meh, we expected this” and “see, you can’t win a tour without doping.”  It’s funny that they’re either giving the benefit of the doubt to Alberto, or just so apathetic it’s sickening. 

For those who don’t know, his sample after the 2nd rest day showed *traces* of clenbuterol, apparently a very nominal performance booster at all.  (Not on the level of say, EPO or testosterone.)  What’s even more amusing is that the labs have found traces of plastic in his sample as well – suggesting blood doping.  He claims it came from eating tainted meat.  If that’s the case, wouldn’t his teammates have had it as well?  Don’t they all eat the same meals together?  I’m fairly certain that the UCI and French authorities would have kept a pretty stringent eye on Vinokourov after his return from a blood doping ban. 

Surprisingly silent in this is Armstrong, the man they claim doped his way to 7 victories. 

What’s even more interesting is that the latest batch of files to the UCI for teams to acquire ProTour status was missing one team – Astana, Contador’s soon to be former team.