Team of the week: Sergio Henao, Peter Sagan, Nairo Quintana, and more
Our pick of the best riders from the last seven days of racing, which has featured some stand-out performances at Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico.
Alberto Contador
Nationality: Spanish
Date of birth: December 6, 1982
Height: 176cm
Weight: 62kg
Team: Retired
Previous teams: Trek-Segafredo (2017), Tinkoff (2011-16), Astana (2009-10), Discovery Channel (2007), Liberty Seguros/Astana (2006), Liberty Seguros (2004-5), ONCE-Eroski (2003)
Twitter: @albertocontador
Alberto Contador is a retired pro cyclist and one of an elite group that have won all three Grand Tours: the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a España, and consequently is ranked as among the current world’s best three-week stage racers alongside Chris Froome, Vincenzo Nibali and Nairo Quintana.
His strengths lay in his climbing ability, strong performances in time trials and tactical nous – the perfect combination for a stage racer.
The Spaniard has won two editions of the Tour de France (2007, 2009), two Giro d’Italia victories (2008, 2015) and three wins in his home tour, the Vuelta a España (2008, 2012 and 2014). He can also count victories in some of the biggest week-long stage races among his impressive palmares: including Paris-Nice, Tirreno-Adriatico and the Tour of the Basque Country.
Contador continued to ride into 2017, despite earlier stating that he would retire at the end of the 2016 season, with the Trek-Segafredo team. He did, however, retire at the end of 2017 – having taken ninth in the General Classification of his last Tour de France.
A shadow was cast over Contador’s career during the 2010 Tour de France when he tested positive for clenbuterol. He maintained his innocence, but a protracted anti-doping case ultimately saw the Spaniard stripped of the 2010 Tour and 2011 Giro titles, and all other race wins from July 2010 to February 2012.
Alberto Contador career profile
Alberto Contador has been touted as the most talented stage racer and all-round talent of his generation. In four years, the Spaniard won five Grand Tours – including three Tours de France – a remarkable achievement for such a young rider.
Contador is only the fifth rider in history – and the first Spaniard – to have won all three major Tours. Contador is best known as a climber, with victories on the Angliru in Spain and Plateau de Beille in France in his palmarès. Contador’s win in the 2007 Tour came after Dane Michael Rasmussen was kicked out of the event.
January 2005, Tour Down Under, CONTADOR Alberto, Liberty Seguros Wurth, Photo : Yuzuru SUNADA
The Spaniard handled the pressure of leading a major Tour for the first time in his career and fended off Australian Cadel Evans in the final time trial for the overall win.
Barred from racing the Tour in 2008 because of the 2007 scandals in Astana – before he joined the squad – Contador’s victory in the Giro came despite virtually no pre-race training and a last-minute warning he would be racing.
His win in the Vuelta a España that year was more widely expected, but confirmed him as the strongest three-week stage racer in the world.
Contador remained with Astana in 2009, where he had Lance Armstrong as a teammate. The relationship between the two riders came to a head during the 2009 Tour de France, where Contador felt he was isolated by a team rallying behind the Texan. Yet he still managed to win the Tour for a second time in the face of overwhelming pressure and internal fraction.
In 2010, Contador was undisputed leader of his Astana team at the Tour after Armstrong’s departure to RadioShack. Contador clinched his third overall Tour victory despite not winning a stage and being challenged closely by Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank).
A week after Contador won the 2010 Tour with Astana, he announced that he would be leaving the team. Bjarne Riis then confirmed in early August that he had signed Contador to the Saxo Bank team for the 2011 season.
In September 2010 news broke that Contador had been provisionally suspended from competition for failing a test for clenbuterol during the Tour de France. He was cleared by the Spanish cycling federation in February 2011 and promptly won the Tour of Murcia after taking two stages.
On Monday, February 6 2012, the Court of Arbitration for Sport handed Contador a back-dated two-year ban for testing positive for clenbuterol which expired on August 5, 2012.
Alberto Contador Giro 2011
Contador came back from his ban to win the 2012 Vuelta a España overall, followed by a win in Milan-Turin.
A relatively quiet year in 2013 was followed by a season in which Contador returned to peak form. Despite being forced to withdraw from the 2014 Tour de France due to crash injuries, Contador made a remarkable recovery to take control in the Vuelta a España, beating Chris Froome to victory.
He followed that up with overall victory in the 2015 Giro d’Italia, officially his second title after having his 2011 victory annulled due to his doping ban. That victory was a part of an ambitious double by Contador, who aimed to be the first rider since Marco Pantani in 1998 to win the Giro and Tour in the same year.
Alberto Contador on stage 20 of the 2014 Tour of Spain
Things didn’t quite pan out though, with Contador looking well off the pace as Froome soared to his second victory at the Tour.
Before the start of the 2016, Contador had already stated his intention to retire at the end of the season, with one last crack at the Tour de France on the cards.
Some excellent form seemed to counter his mindset though, with second placed finishes at the Volta a Ciclista a Catalunya and Paris-Nice before an overall victory at the Tour of the Basque Country. Contador then implied that he would consider going on racing for another year.
Alberto Contador at the 2016 Tour of the Basque Country (Watson)
2017 saw El Pistolero riding for Trek-Segafredo after Tinkoff called it a day. The Spaniard took a super conservative approach to his Tour de France preparation producing no wins but several second place finishes at Paris-Nice, Volta a Catalunya and Tour of the Basque Country.
Finishing outside the top 10 at this year’s Critérium du Dauphiné (11th) led to people questioning his physical form for a three week tour like the Tour de France. However, you can never write off the future hall of fame cyclist.
Alberto Contador results
2017
Paris-Nice; second overall
Volta a Ciclista a Catalunya; second overall
Tour of the Basque Country; second overall
Vuelta a Andalucia; second overall
2016
Volta ao Algarve; stage five
Paris-Nice; second overall
Volta a Ciclista a Catalunya; second overall
Tour of the Basque Country; stage six
Tour of the Basque Country; overall
2015
Ruta del Sol; stage three
Giro d’Italia; overall
Route du Sud; stage three
2014
Tour of the Algarve; stage four
Tirreno-Adriatico; stage four
Tirreno-Adriatico; stage five
Tirreno-Adriatico; overall
Tour of the Basque Country; stage one
Tour of the Basque Country; overall
Vuelta a España; stage 16
Vuelta a España; stage 20
Vuelta a España; overall
2013
Tour of San Luis; stage six
2012
Tour of San Luis; stage three (annulled)
Tour of San Luis; stage five (annulled)
Tour of San Luis; mountains classification (annulled)
Vuelta a España; stage 17
Vuelta a España; overall
Milan-Turin
2011
Tour of Murcia; stage two (annulled)
Tour of Murcia; stage three (annulled)
Tour of Murcia; overall (annulled)
Giro d’Italia; stage nine (annulled)
Giro d’Italia; stage 16 ITT (annulled)
Giro d’Italia; overall (annulled)
2010
Paris-Nice; stage four
Paris-Nice; overall
Volta ao Algarve; stage three
Volta ao Algarve; overall
Vuelta a Castilla y Leon; stage four ITT
Vuelta a Castilla y Leon; overall
Tour de France; overall (annulled)
2009
Tour de France; stage four TTT
Tour de France; stage 15
Tour de France; stage 18
Tour de France; overall
Paris-Nice; stage six
Paris-Nice; stage one
Tour of the Basque Country; overall
Tour of the Basque Country; stage three
Tour of the Basque Country; stage six
Volta ao Algarve; overall
Volta ao Algarve; stage four
National time trial championships
2008
Giro d’Italia; overall
Vuelta a España; overall
Vuelta a España; stage
Vuelta a España; stage
Tour of the Basque Country; overall
Tour of the Basque Country; stage
Tour of the Basque Country; stage
Tour of Castille y Leon; overall
Tour of Castille y Leon; stage
Tour of Castille y Leon; stage
2007
Tour de France; overall
Tour de France; young riders’ white jersey
Tour de France; stage
Paris-Nice; overall
Paris-Nice; young riders’ classification
Paris-Nice; stage
Paris-Nice; stage
Tour of Castille y Leon; overall
Tour of Castille y Leon; stage
Tour of Valencia, stage
2006
Tour of Switzerland; stage
Tour de Romandie; stage
2005
Tour de Romandie; stage
Tour of Basque Country; stage
Catalan Week; stage
Catalan Week; overall
Tour Down Under; stage
2003
Tour of Poland; stage
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Sergio Henao narrowly holds on to win Paris-Nice as Alberto Contador attacks
Sergio Henao took a fifth Paris-Nice win for Team Sky with seconds over Alberto Contador
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Alberto Contador reveals how he plans to beat Chris Froome at the Tour de France
Trek-Segafredo's Alberto Contador says that rest will be key to him beating Chris Froome at the Tour de France, with a pre-race holiday already in his diary.
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Thibaut Pinot outguns Alberto Contador to win Ruta del Sol queen stage
The queen stage of the Ruta del Sol saw victory for FDJ's Ruta del Sol, who paced himself perfectly to overhaul Alberto Contador in the final metres.
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Alberto Contador’s fully customised Trek Émonda is a thing of beauty
Trek has debuted a fully customised Emonda, honouring the Spaniard's Grand Tour success
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Ivan Basso backs Alberto Contador to win a third Tour de France
Ivan Basso says that the "best active Grand Tour rider" Alberto Contador can beat Chris Froome in the July's Tour de France
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Alberto Contador and John Degenkolb appear in new Trek-Segafredo kit
American team unveils their new team jersey ahead of the 2017 season
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Alberto Contador: ‘Oleg Tinkov has a lot of money but didn't know how to manage a team'
Spanish Grand Tour star Alberto Contador has no regrets about Oleg Tinkov's departure from the world of cycling
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'No matter what, he will attack. Alberto Contador will attack until he can't pedal any more'
Staff and ex-pros give their thoughts on Alberto Contador's final season
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10 riders to watch out for in 2017
We pick 10 professional cyclists to keep an eye on during the 2017 race season
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'Team Sky has a €35m budget, it's complicated to compete with that'
Alberto Contador says his biggest challenge at new team Trek-Segafredo will be overcoming the power of Team Sky in the Grand Tours
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Nicolas Roche: Alberto Contador still has a lot to give
Nico Roche believes Alberto Contador's best is behind him, while he aims to take-up a leadership role of his own in 2017 with BMC
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Abu Dhabi Tour 2016: Stage-by-stage
The Abu Dhabi Tour kicks off on Thursday, boasting a star-studded start list for its four days of racing in the United Arab Emirates (October 20-23)
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Tinkoff unveil yet another new kit for their final ever race
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Top 10 racing moments from Tinkoff's time in the peloton
We take a look at Tinkoff's best racing moments of the last four years
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Alberto Contador: 'I can still win the 2017 Tour de France'
Spanish Grand Tour champion Alberto Contador says his main aim for 2017 will be a Tour de France victory for his new team, Trek-Segafredo
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Alberto Contador confirmed to join Trek-Segafredo for 2017
Alberto Contador will link up with the team for next year after his Tinkoff team folds
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WIN a place on Contador’s training camp with Polartec
This is your chance to ride with multiple-Grand Tour winner Alberto Contador
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Five talking points from stage 17 of the Vuelta a España
Nairo Quintana tried to seal the Vuelta a España title on stage 17 but a huge effort by Chris Froome meant the Sky man is still in contention
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Chris Froome battles to maintain deficit on tough Vuelta a España stage 17
Nairo Quintana looked to deliver the knockout punch to Chris Froome on stage 17 of the Vuelta a España but the Brit battled back to stay 3-37 down
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The final climb of the Vuelta a España stage 17 looks brutal (videos)
BMC coach Marco Pinotti rides up the final climb on stage 17 of the Vuelta a España and it looks incredibly tough
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Quintana and Contador leave Vuelta stage 15 satisfied after successful alliance
Nairo Quintana and Alberto Contador both made significant gains after dropping key GC contenders including Chris Froome in an early breakaway
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Nairo Quintana tightens grip on Vuelta a España as Chris Froome loses ground on stage 15
Gianluca Brambilla took the stage honours, but Nairo Quintana was the big winner as he put a huge amount of time into Chris Froome
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Alberto Contador admits his Vuelta a España chances are almost over
Sitting almost three minutes down on race leader Nairo Quintana, Tinkoff's Alberto Contador admits he's a long way from winning the race
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Five talking points from stage eight of the Vuelta a España
Key moments and talking points from stage eight of the Vuelta a España
