With the start of the Tour, the controversy over the tainted sample Contador submitted last year has overwhelmed the press. At the start the Versus commentators all agreed that Contador's inclusion is bad for the sport. At this point, the officials can't keep him out, he didn't take a plea and wants to extend the investigation through the litigation process of the UCI. Is he hurting the sport? Sure, he didn't take the deal offered, it will be at least August(probably longer if an appeal occurs) before we know the result of last year's tour and possibly this year also.
Why should he care? These guys are just entertainers making a living. I don't have any information about his endorsements or contracts, but my guess is that the winner of multiple grand tours in the second most popular spectator sport in history probably has multi-year contracts with many sponsors worth tens of millions of dollars. Maybe more. If he took the plea, he would loose all that. He would have to pay the fines, loose his income and come back and start over from ground zero. If he pursues whatever litigation available, it may take years to resolve, he'll bank his tens of millions before any discipline occurs. What would you do? Is your family's income and security more important than the integrity of a bike race? Would Bob Roll and Phil Liggett donate their salaries to facilitate the conclusion?
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