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Geelong - Alberto Contador's announcement on Thursday that he had tested positive for a banned substance is a massive blow to his reputation as the world's top stage racing cyclist.
A three-time Tour de France champion who has also won the Tours of Italy and Spain, the Spaniard has his doubters, who question his impressive performances in the mountain stages and time trials of the world's biggest bike race.
But the tiny amounts of clenbuterol found, which he blames on food contamination, mean he could yet be cleared of doping.
Contador's supporters argue that his natural abilities and work ethic have been key to his stunning career - along with a reputation for not buckling even under intense pressure.
Like cycling icon Lance Armstrong, who successfully battled testicular cancer in 1998 to return to cycling and win the Tour de France seven times consecutively, Contador has faced death.
In 2004 he crashed in the Tour of Asturias stage race in Spain. It later emerged he had fallen while unconscious, prompting a medical check-up which revealed a cavernoma, a form of aneurysm.
Contador had the choice of ignoring the problem and possibly never riding again, or having a risky operation. The Spaniard decided on the latter option, which left him with a 100-stitch scar but the chance to compete once more.
Discreet and seemingly shy off the bike, Contador transforms into a fierce competitor once in the saddle.
In 2007 he won his first Tour de France after inheriting the yellow jersey late in the race when Denmark's Michael Rasmussen, then the race leader, was excluded for suspected doping.
After his Astana team were banned from the 2008 edition because of earlier doping misdemeanours while under different management, Contador turned his attention to the Giro d'Italia and Tour of Spain.
He won both races, joining an elite club of cycling greats to have taken all three Grand Tours.
Contador won the 2009 Tour de France after a tense cohabitation in Astana with Armstrong, who had joined the team after coming back to the sport following a three-year hiatus.
Armstrong entered the 2010 edition with a new team, but the American folded on the first day in the high mountains and Andy Schleck, already the runner-up in 2009, went on to be Contador's main challenger.
Again, the Luxembourger finished second, only 39 seconds adrift.
Contador has faced drugs allegations before, notably when he was among dozens of cyclists linked to the 'Operacion Puerto' doping affair in Spain in May 2006.
So far only two top riders, Italy's Ivan Basso and Spaniard Alejandro Valverde, have been punished in connection to that scandal - Basso served a two-year ban and Valverde is currently suspended, while Contador was cleared of any wrongdoing.
If it is ruled that Contador deliberately doped this time, Schleck would be handed the overall victory from the 2010 Tour de France, as happened to Spain's Oscar Pereiro in 2006 when American Floyd Landis was stripped of his title for drugs offences.
A three-time Tour de France champion who has also won the Tours of Italy and Spain, the Spaniard has his doubters, who question his impressive performances in the mountain stages and time trials of the world's biggest bike race.
But the tiny amounts of clenbuterol found, which he blames on food contamination, mean he could yet be cleared of doping.
Contador's supporters argue that his natural abilities and work ethic have been key to his stunning career - along with a reputation for not buckling even under intense pressure.
Like cycling icon Lance Armstrong, who successfully battled testicular cancer in 1998 to return to cycling and win the Tour de France seven times consecutively, Contador has faced death.
In 2004 he crashed in the Tour of Asturias stage race in Spain. It later emerged he had fallen while unconscious, prompting a medical check-up which revealed a cavernoma, a form of aneurysm.
Contador had the choice of ignoring the problem and possibly never riding again, or having a risky operation. The Spaniard decided on the latter option, which left him with a 100-stitch scar but the chance to compete once more.
Discreet and seemingly shy off the bike, Contador transforms into a fierce competitor once in the saddle.
In 2007 he won his first Tour de France after inheriting the yellow jersey late in the race when Denmark's Michael Rasmussen, then the race leader, was excluded for suspected doping.
After his Astana team were banned from the 2008 edition because of earlier doping misdemeanours while under different management, Contador turned his attention to the Giro d'Italia and Tour of Spain.
He won both races, joining an elite club of cycling greats to have taken all three Grand Tours.
Contador won the 2009 Tour de France after a tense cohabitation in Astana with Armstrong, who had joined the team after coming back to the sport following a three-year hiatus.
Armstrong entered the 2010 edition with a new team, but the American folded on the first day in the high mountains and Andy Schleck, already the runner-up in 2009, went on to be Contador's main challenger.
Again, the Luxembourger finished second, only 39 seconds adrift.
Contador has faced drugs allegations before, notably when he was among dozens of cyclists linked to the 'Operacion Puerto' doping affair in Spain in May 2006.
So far only two top riders, Italy's Ivan Basso and Spaniard Alejandro Valverde, have been punished in connection to that scandal - Basso served a two-year ban and Valverde is currently suspended, while Contador was cleared of any wrongdoing.
If it is ruled that Contador deliberately doped this time, Schleck would be handed the overall victory from the 2010 Tour de France, as happened to Spain's Oscar Pereiro in 2006 when American Floyd Landis was stripped of his title for drugs offences.
