Alberto Contador thinks Lance Armstrong should be shown some respect
Alberto Contador has expressed his support for disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong during what he has dubbed a 'lynching'
Last Updated: 24/10/12 3:39pm
The Texan has been stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and banned from the sport for life for his part in a wide-ranging doping scandal.
"It seems to me that at certain times and in certain places Lance is not being treated with any respect," said Contador, a double Tour champion who returned from a doping ban in August.
"He is being humiliated and lynched, in my opinion. He is being destroyed.
"Right now people are talking about Lance but there has not been any new test or anything. It's based exclusively on witness statements that could have existed in 2005.
"I respect each rider's decision but I would have liked it to happen a bit earlier.
"What there is (in terms of evidence) I don't know, what I do know is that if cycling is popular in the United States it's thanks to him.
"There is little that needs to be changed at the moment. The tests we have are as rigorous as possible, we have to be able to be located at all times.
"There will be people who will have doubts, given everything that has come out, and I understand it.
"I say to them that they should believe completely that riders win races without help, also on the Tour."
