28-year-old Contador tested non-negative for the banned anabolic agent clenbuterol during the 2010 Tour de France, but was cleared by the Spanish federation (RFEC) last February, only for the International Cycling Union (UCI) and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to appeal the decision to the CAS.

Little has been leaking out from this week's hearing in Lausanne and CAS provided scant information for the media today as three-times Tour champion Contador was heard by the three-man arbitration panel.

"In the morning of November 24, 2011, the CAS panel ... will hear the parties' closing submissions at the CAS premises," CAS announced in a brief statement.

"The hearing will be closed at 12.30 p.m. There will be no press conference after the hearing ... The CAS decision in this matter is not expected before the end of 2011."

CAS had previously said it could take six to eight weeks before it announced a decision.

If found guilty, Contador, who said contaminated meat was responsible for the failed test, could face a two-year ban and be stripped of his 2010 Tour de France champion title.

The Team Saxo Bank-SunGard rider could also lose all the titles he has collected since he was cleared by the RFEC, including the second Giro d'Italia title he won this year.

Contador was scheduled to be heard by the panel after his former team mates at Astana, Italian Paolo Tiralongo and Spain's Benjamin Noval.

Contador, one of only five men with titles in all three grand Tours (France, Spain, Italy), has made no comments since he arrived in Lausanne on Monday to participate in the hearing.

"For the moment, we are happy and everything seems to be going well," one of his lawyers was quoted as saying by various media earlier today.