Alberto Contador to ride Tour de France and Vuelta a España in 2016, Tinkov reveals

Never one to mince his words on Twitter, Tinkoff-Saxo owner Oleg Tinkov revealed his Grand Tour manifesto for 2016, with Alberto Contador set to round off his career by riding the Tour de France and Vuelta a España.

The Russian says that Rafal Majka, third in the 2015 Vuelta, will target the overall win at the Giro d'Italia before handing over to Contador to lead the team at the two remaining Grand Tours.

Contador revealed this year that next season would be his last in the professional peloton, with his contract at Tinkoff-Saxo due to expire at the end of 2016.

The Spaniard won the Giro in May and finished fifth at the Tour de France as he attempted an historic double, last managed by Marco Pantani in 1998.

Should he win both the Tour and Vuelta next year, Contador would become the first rider since the Spanish race moved to the Autumn in 1995 to do the double.

Jacques Anquetil and Bernard Hinault are the two riders to have achieved the double, both when the Vuelta was between the Giro and the Tour in the racing calendar.

Majka, meanwhile, will look to build on his podium place at the Vuelta by winning the Giro next year. The Pole finished sixth in the Italian race in 2014, but with a reported three individual time trials in next year's race, Majka will have to improve against the clock to feature.

He conceded 2-38 to Tom Dumoulin in the solitary time trial at the Vuelta, finishing behind the GC rivals Alejandro Valverde, Nairo Quintana and Fabio Aru.

The routes for the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France will be revealed in the coming months, while the Vuelta a España will announce its stages in the new year.