Contador spearheads Saxobank team for Tour

Paris: Controversial Tour de France champion Alberto Contador heads Saxo Bank`s assault on next month`s race with the Spaniard gunning for a fourth title in five years.

Also figuring in Saxo Bank`s team announced Wednesday for the 2011 Tour which starts on July 2 are three compatriots of Contador - Jesus Hernandez, Daniel Navarro and Benjamin Noval. Australian Richie Porto and Danish cyclist Anker Sorensen are also in the line-up. Debate has raged over whether Contador should be allowed to compete after he tested positive for clenbuterol during last year`s Tour de France. He was cleared of any wrongdoing by the Spanish federation after it accepted his claim that he ingested the banned substance through a contaminated steak.But the International Cycling Union (UCI) and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) have appealed that decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). A verdict is due to be delivered in August. Although a CAS ban would annul all his results dating from and including last year`s Tour de France, legally Contador currently has every right to compete. Last week world cycling chiefs urged that Contador be presumed innocent of doping until proven guilty. Contador is aiming for a rare double after winning the Giro d`Italia last month. Saxobank Alberto Contador (ESP), Jesus Hernandez (ESP), Daniel Navarro (ESP), Benjamin Noval (ESP), Richie Porte (AUS), Chris Anker Sorensen (DEN), Nicki Sorensen (DEN), Matteo Tosatto (ITA), Brian Vandborg (DEN) Bureau Report