Alberto Contador is due to fight against an appeal to impose a doping ban on him which could strip him of his 2010 Tour de France title.

Anti-doping chiefs are standing united to show the window for enhancing performance is getting smaller at the Tour de France.

Lance Armstrong has demanded an apology from a CBS News programme after an anti-doping laboratory denied allegations he tested positive for drugs.

In the wake of fresh doping allegations against Lance Armstrong, cycling's governing body and a former teammates had come to his defence.

A former teammate of Lance Armstrong has said cycling's governing body helped the seven-times Tour de France winner cover up a positive drugs test.

Tour de France winner Alberto Contador said 2009 has been his best year ever, as he received an award from the International Cycling Union on Monday.

Disgraced American cyclist Floyd Landis will have to wait until June at the earliest for a ruling on an appeal to overturn his positive doping test at the 2006 Tour de France after a five-day hearing ended on Monday. Landis, who has denied wrongdoing, made his final appeal in closed-door sessions before the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Cycling in South Africa received yet another boost on Monday when it was announced that MTN has become the title sponsor of the country's premier and only international road-cycling stage race, the Giro del Capo. The five-day stage race takes place yearly in the Western Cape.

Under a golden sun, Paolo Bettini capped a perfect day for cycling by outracing, outwitting and, finally, outsprinting everyone to win the world road race title. If ever there were a glorious highlight to a season, that was it. As the Italian crossed the line, though, there was little joy because he had been involved in a doping scandal.

Spain's Oscar Pereiro on Monday received the yellow jersey from the 2006 Tour de France at a ceremony in Madrid, officially replacing United States rider Floyd Landis, who was stripped of his title for doping. "This is an emotional moment, a day that I will never forget," said Pereiro after Tour director Christian Prudhomme awarded him the jersey.