Oscar Pereiro won the Tour in 2006 but retired at the end of this season. He's now a soccer player(Image credit: Procycling)
Alberto Contador and Oscar Pereiro at the start(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Alberto Contador and teammates Oscar Pereiro and Benjamín Noval at the famed Forest of Arenberg - one of the sport's most dangerous stretches of "road".(Image credit: Alberto Contador)
Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank)(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Tour de France winner Oscar Pereiro lashed out at the decision to suspend Alberto Contador for two years, blaming both the Court of Arbitration for Sport and the UCI. Ironically, Pereiro took the 2006 Tour de France title only after the disqualification of Floyd Landis on doping charges.
"Two years of sanctions to Alberto Contador and the judgement says that the doping is not proven," he tweeted. "Then? Sons of a ...."
In another tweet, he referred to Alejandro Valverde, who just came off a two-year ban. "We have two Spaniards sanctioned, without the UCI or CAS proving it. Shame on you (...) Do you know what I think? He is innocent, I know him. Hopefully he will go through with this to the end and then we will see who we pay for and who does their job like shit."
Pereiro, who started playing soccer in the Spanish B league after ending his career as a cyclist in 2010, did not hold back.
Pereiro was awarded the 2006 Tour victory in September 2007, after Landis was found to have doped during the Tour. He now works for Spanish media during the Tour de France and also races car Rallye.
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Thank you for reading 5 articles in the past 30 days*
