Prudhomme wants quick resolution to Contador case

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Tour de France general director Christian Prudhomme is hoping for a quick resolution to the Court of Arbitration for Sport's (CAS) investigation into three-time Tour winner, Alberto Contador.

Contador returned a positive test for Clenbuterol at the 2010 Tour, but in February the Spanish cycling federation's competition committee opted not to sanction him. The International Cycling Union (UCI) appealed the matter to CAS on Thursday.

"What concerns us is that there should be a line drawn under this affair and a definitive decision taken," said Prudhomme.

The UCI told Cyclingnews following the appeal announcement that this is the aim of the continued proceedings.

"We want to get to a point where we can be sure and we can give you the guarantee that we did everything we could in order to get the best decision," explained UCI spokesman Enrico Carpani.

Speaking to L'Equipe, Prudhomme indicated that he felt the saga had already dragged on for too long after news broke of Contador's positive test last September. The UCI waited for the maximum time to announce their appeal to the CAS, with the sport's governing body explaining "an in-depth study" of Contador's file from the Spanish investigation had taken place.

"What concerns us is that there should be a line drawn under this affair and a definitive decision taken," Prudhomme explained.

Contador's was deemed innocent in the Spanish investigation because of the argument that he had inadvertently ingested a banned product through no fault or negligence on his part. His lawyer, Andy Ramos recently told Cyclingnews that the Saxo Bank-SunGard rider has "an extremely solid case. Our dossier is 600 pages long and all of the scientists we've spoken to are convinced that Alberto is innocent. It's going to be a very tough case for them to take on."

Contador is free to race for the duration of the appeals process.