Pereiro criticizes cycling chief, says Contador appeal waste of time

By Ignacio Naya Feb 8, 2012, 14:05 GMT

Pinto, Spain - Spaniard Oscar Pereiro, 2006 Tour de France champion, has criticized the head of cycling's international federation UCI and told dpa that compatriot Alberto Contador was wasting his time in appealing against his doping ban.

'It would not be bad if someone who were pedalling and who were not a gangster would also be counselling these people (cycling officials),' Pereiro told dpa in Pinto on the outskirts of Madrid.

It was in Pinto that Contador announced on Tuesday his intention to continue competing and to appeal against the sanctions imposed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

Three-times Tour de France winner Contador was banned by CAS for two years for a doping offence at the 2010 Tour. Contador is also being stripped of the 2010 Tour and 2011 Giro d'Italia titles and other events.

Pereiro, a friend of Contador who has retired from cycling, believes that 'to appeal would be to waste time.'

However, he expressed trust in Contador's strength. 'To continue in cycling... I would not be able to, that is how I am, but I know that he will continue,' he said.

Pereiro criticized UCI president Pat McQuaid, saying: 'When McQuaid says it is a sad day, let us not be hypocritical.

'If it has come to this, it is because he has appealed to the CAS and deep down, there are 2 million and a bit more euros that are at stake for the UCI. That is what I have felt since the beginning.'

Pereiro believes the Contador case includes 'economic interests.'

'What the UCI gets in subsidy income, what we pay, the discounts for the (doping) controls, the annual benefit is very big for the UCI for fighting doping.

'An association with 10 million euros a year, they need to have a bit more for sanctioning the world's best cyclist right now for probably having eaten an energy bar. You need to prove something more.'

'This is the only sport with this kinds of tricks, the clauses we sign, the contracts we sign... This does not happen in any other sport. We are the guinea pigs which allow anything to be done to us,' Pereiro said.

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