Banned cycling champ Contador has no plans of retiring

Madrid, Feb 7(ANI): Spanish cyclist Alberto Contador has no plans to retire after being banned for two years and being stripped of his 2010 Tour de France title.

"Alberto is clear about that, and he will not quit cycling," his brother Francisco was quoted as saying.

Spanish cycling supremo Juan Carlos Castano said that he spoke to Alberto regarding his career.

"He appeared calm in principle, but was obviously annoyed by this resolution, given that something this strong had not been expected," Castano said.

Contador was banned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport for doping at the 2010 Tour.CAS has partially upheld the appeals filed by WADA and the UCI and has found Alberto Contador guilty of a doping offence," news.com.au quoted a CAS statement, as saying.

"As a consequence, Alberto Contador is sanctioned with a two-year period of ineligibility starting retroactively on 25 January 2011, minus the period of the provisional suspension served in 2010-2011 (5 months and 19 days). The suspension should therefore come to an end on 5 August 2012," he added.

Contador has been stripped of all his wins in 2011, which include the Giro d'Italia, and the 2010 Tour de France title.

The move comes as a severe blow to the sport, which has been plagued by doping offences over the past 15 years.

Contador has 30 days to lodge an appeal with the Swiss Federal Court, but there was no immediate reaction from the cyclist.

"This is a sad day for our sport. Some may think of it as a victory, but that is not at all the case. There are no winners when it comes to the issue of doping - every case, irrespective of its characteristics, is always a case too many," UCI President Pat McQuaid said. (ANI)