Schleck awarded with 2010 Tour de France yellow jersey

Almost two years later, Andy Schleck has his yellow jersey for winning the 2010 Tour de France.

The Luxembourg rider finished second in the race, but Alberto Contador was stripped of the title for failing a doping test.

Schleck has repeatedly said the decision to give him the title felt like a hollow victory since he did not win it on the grueling roads of France. Contador lost the title when sports' highest court in February rejected his story that contaminated meat caused the failed drug test.

"It is two years after, but I will never forget this tour it has been a very good tour," Schleck said.

The jersey was handed over Tuesday in a ceremony attended by Tour de France organizers. It came on the eve of the Tour de Luxembourg, a tuneup for the Tour de France, which starts June 30.

"It is not the same as to take the jersey on a podium in the tour," Schleck said. "You don't have the podium girls, everything around is different."

Contador, who also won the Tour in 2007 and `09, tested positive for clenbuterol during a Tour rest day in July 2010. He was still considered the winner when the Tour ended that year.

The verdict by the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland, was delivered 566 days after Contador rode triumphantly along the Champs d'Elysees in Paris.

After the jersey was put on Schleck, Tour de France manager Christian Prud'homme said too much time has gone by for ceremonies such as this.

"Sports authorities must work on reducing this lag in case of cases just like this one," he said

This year, Contador has already missed the Giro d'Italia because of looming suspension. He will also miss the Tour de France and the London Olympics, but can ride in the Spanish Vuelta, which begins Aug. 18.