Cycling: Alberto Contador has set his sights on returning to action at this summer's Vuelta a Espana after giving up the legal challenge against his doping ban. The 29-year-old Spaniard, winner of the Tour de France in 2007 and 2009 but stripped of his victory in 2010 after testing positive for clenbuterol, will be free to compete again when his two-year suspension ends on August 6th.
"I want to be in the biggest competitions," he told the Spanish daily
El Mundo
. "The Vuelta will be the axis of the end of the season and then come the world championships. I want to be there."
Contador has not lodged an application before the Swiss courts to challenge the sanction imposed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, and also ruled out the possibility of another appeal to the European Court of Human Rights.
"After talking with lawyers, they tell me they see very little future," he said.
The Madrid-born rider has always maintained his innocence, claiming he failed the test after eating contaminated meat, but was served with a two-year period of ineligibility starting retroactively on January 25th, 2011, minus the period of the provisional suspension served in 2010-2011 (five months and 19 days).
"I have lost confidence in the sports courts," he added. "I have not doped, and I am punished."