Alberto Contador to retire after 2016 season, reports suggest

Alberto Contador has said he will retire at the end of the 2016 season, according to reports in Spain.

The six-time Grand Tour winner has talked openly of his possible retirement in the past, but, according to Juan Gutierrez at Spanish newspaper AS, Contador said next season would be his last as a professional.

“Physically [I’m] recovered well and I'm excited about the team, but the years pass. Next year I'll be in the squad, but will be the last,” the Tinkoff-Saxo rider is reported to have said at a Fundación Alberto Contador event.

The Spaniard also says he wants to go out at the top of his game and that winning the big races is the only thing he is looking for at this stage in his career.

“If I ask myself the Giro and the Tour is not worth me being second in any of them,” he said. “I’m just looking to win, but then we'll see what happens. I am maverick and victory is all that I ask myself.”