Monday was a great day for Luxembourgish sport and a bad day for cycling as Andy Schleck was retroactively declared the winner of the Tour de France 2010. The decision comes after the actual winner that year, Alberto Contador, was found guilty on doping charges by the International Sports Tribunal in Lausanne on Monday. The Spaniard was given a two-year suspension for using Clenbuterol, something he has always categorically denied, insisting the traces found in July 2010 were down to the consumption of a tainted steak.

Contador's Tour de France 2010 and Giro d'Italia 2011 victories were declared null and void by the Lausanne verdict on Monday. The Saxo Bank rider is also barred from taking part in this summer's Tour, as his ban runs until 6 August 2012.

All this means that Luxembourg's Andy Schleck, second in 2010 while riding for Saxo Bank, has now become the winner of that year's Tour de France.
After François Faber in 1909, Nicolas Frantz in 1927 and 1928 and Charly Gaul in 1958, Andy Schleck is the fourth rider from Luxembourg to have won cycling's most prestigious race.

There was no official reaction on Monday by Andy Schleck or by his new team Radioshack Nissan Trek. Hopefully they can find some champagne on the island to celebrate a bizarre career-defining victory.