Seven-times Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong was embroiled in a U.S. federal investigation triggered by former team mate and disgraced 2006 champion Floyd Landis's allegations, while three-times winner Alberto Contador failed a test for the banned anabolic agent Clenbuterol.
The biological passport, a tool developed by the International Cycling Union (UCI) to help the fight against doping, showed its limitations when Italian Franco Pellizotti was eventually cleared to race even though his data suggested he had tampered with his blood.
Alberto Contador Under Scrutiny
Vuelta runner-up Ezequiel Mosquera failed a dope test, prompting UCI president Pat McQuaid to say that Spain was not doing enough to tackle the doping problem.
Elite cycling has been growing strongly in the United States, with RadioShack, Garmin, HTC-High Road and BMC Racing four of 18 elite outfits for the 2011 season, but the sport's officials fear the scandals could drive away sponsors.
"With cycling's degraded image because of doping and the financial crisis, it's getting more and more difficult. The future is very uncertain," Caisse d'Epargne team manager Francis Lafargue told Reuters during the Tour.
Alberto Contador Under Scrutiny
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