Tour de France winner Alberto Contador, who has been linked with a Spanish doping investigation, is expected to make a public statement on Friday.

The rider "will publicize a communique" at the offices of Spain's Superior Council for Sports along with Discovery Channel Team head Johan Bruyneel, Contador spokesman Jacinto Vidarte said Wednesday.

Alberto Contador earned his first career Tour de France victory on July 29 in Paris.
(Franck Fife/Getty Images)

Vidarte added Contador would read a statement but not take questions. He declined to elaborate on the nature of the announcement.

The appearance comes as Contador faces increased scrutiny over his alleged links to the Operation Puerto blood-doping scandal.

Contador's name was associated with Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes, who was at the centre of the investigation set off last May when Spain's Civil Guard raided a Madrid clinic that allegedly provided doping services to more than 50 riders.

Contador won this year's Tour de France by 23 seconds over Cadel Evans following race leader Michael Rasmussen's removal by his team. Evidence surfaced Rasmussen lied about his whereabouts during training to evade drug testing.

Contador missed the 2006 Tour when his previous team, Liberty Seguros, was disqualified because he and four other riders — plus the team director and doctor — were allegedly linked to Puerto.

He claimed on July 28 he was mistakenly named in the Puerto file. He has never failed a doping test.

"I was in the wrong team at the wrong time and somehow my name got among the documents," Contador said, adding the sport's governing body, the UCI, had corrected the mistake.

2006 Tour de France winner still unclear

The official winner of last year's Tour remains unclear, with Floyd Landis waiting to learn the result of his appeal against a positive doping test.

German authorities said last week they received information from doping expert Werner Franke which he claims show Contador was involved in doping.

Franke said he has documents from the Puerto probe showing Contador had taken a testosterone booster and an asthma drug. He turned over the documents to the World Anti-Doping Agency.

Franke, a molecular biologist, made his reputation as a doping expert with research into the former socialist East Germany's state-sponsored use of performance-enhancing drugs to become an Olympic power.

Also Wednesday, organizers of the ProTour's Cyclassics event in Hamburg, Germany, said Contador was not welcome to compete in their Aug. 19 event. He was not expected to enter in any case.