Vinokourov commented on Contador's titles withdrawal

Kazakhstan professional cyclist Alexandre Vinokourov commented on Alberto Contador's disqualification, Tengrinews.kz reports. The sportsman was stripped of his 2010 Tour de France victory when he rode as part of Astana team and 2011Giro d'Italia title. “This verdict of the Court is of a big surprise for me. I haven't expected such a tough sentence. I am thinking of Alberto now, it is a difficult time for him now. I realize the situation, but he must to be strong. I didn't support this verdict, because I believed in his innocence. However if the judges decided to punish him this way they must have had their own resons for it. It is an awful situation for cycling and this is bad news for Astana team, because it looses its 2010 Tour de France victory. It is a huge injustice for Kazakhstan because the whole team was working for him and now the Kazakhstan's team and those who made so much effort for him are being punished. It's a pity,” Vinokourov wrote in his Facebook. The Court of Arbitration for Sport has suspended Alberto Contador, three-time Tour de France winner, for two years. Disqualification came into effect starting from August 2010 when the Spanish cyclist tested positive for the banned substance clenbuterol.