Alberto Contador
 Alberto Contador, at the 2010 Tour de France |
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Alberto Contador Velasco | ||
| Nickname | El Pistolero | ||
| Date of birth | 6 December 1982 | ||
| Place of birth | Pinto, Spain | ||
| Height | 1.76 m (5 ft 9 1⁄2 in) | ||
| Weight | 60 kg (130 lb) | ||
| Team information | |||
| Current team | Astana | ||
| Discipline | Road | ||
| Role | Rider | ||
| Rider type | All-rounder/Climbing specialist | ||
| Professional team(s) | |||
| 2003–2006 2007 2008–2010 |
ONCE-Eroski Discovery Channel Astana |
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| Major wins | |||
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| Infobox last updated on 24 July 2010 |
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Alberto Contador Velasco (Spanish pronunciation: [alˈβeɾto kontaˈðoɾ beˈlasko]; born 6 December 1982) is a Spanish professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam Astana. He was the winner of the 2007 Tour de France with the Discovery Channel team. With the Astana team he has won the 2008 Giro d'Italia, the 2008 Vuelta a España, the 2009 Tour de France, and the 2010 Tour de France. He is the fifth racer in history, and the first Spaniard, to win all three Grand Tours of road cycling.
Contador has been referred to as the best climbing specialist and stage racer in the world.[1][2] Notable summit stage finishes on which he has victories include the Alto de El Angliru in the Vuelta and the Plateau de Beille in the Tour.[3] After being widely expected to lose his tenuous lead in the 2007 Tour de France in that race's final individual time trial,[4][5] Contador has become a more accomplished time trialist, with several victories in the discipline. He has earned a reputation as an all-rounder, a cyclist who excels in all aspects of stage racing which are needed for high places in the general classification.
Contador's career has been marked by occasional doping allegations, the foremost of which, the Operación Puerto doping case, led his Astana-Würth team (a team unrelated in composition to the one for which he currently rides, despite the same sponsor) to withdraw en masse from the 2006 Tour de France before it began. He was eventually cleared of any wrongdoing, but was also accused of doping after his victory in the race the following year.[6] Contador has continually maintained his innocence, and has never faced any individual sanctions for doping.
Contents |
Personal life and early career
Contador was born in Pinto in the Community of Madrid, the third of four children. He has an older brother and sister and a younger brother, who has cerebral palsy. Having previously practiced other sports, such as football and athletics, Contador discovered cycling at the age of 14 thanks to his elder brother Francisco Javier.[7]
At the age of 15, Alberto began to compete in races at the amateur level in Spain, joining the Real Velo Club Portillo from Madrid. Although he got no victories that year or the next, he demonstrated great qualities and was soon nicknamed Pantani (after Marco Pantani, regarded as one of the best climbers of all time) for his climbing skills.[8] In 2000, he experienced his first victories, winning several mountains classification prizes from prominent events on the Spanish amateur cycling calendar.[7]
He dropped out of school at the age of 16 without having finished his Bachillerato and signed with Iberdrola-Loinaz, a youth team run by Manolo Saiz, manager of the professional ONCE cycling team. In 2001, he won the under-23 Spanish time trial championship.[9]
Contador lives with his long-time girlfriend Macarena in the city of Madrid when not competing, and enjoys hunting in his spare time. He has a fascination for birds, keeping personally-bred canaries and goldfinches at home.[10][11]
Professional career
ONCE/Liberty Seguros (2004–2006)
Contador turned professional in 2003 for ONCE-Eroski. In his first year as a professional he won the eighth stage of the Tour de Pologne, an individual time trial. During the first stage of the 2004 Vuelta a Asturias he started to feel unwell, and after 40 kilometers he fell and went into convulsions. He had been suffering from headaches for several days beforehand and was diagnosed with a cerebral cavernoma, a congenital vascular disorder, for which he underwent risky surgery and a recovery to get back on his bike.[2] As a result of the surgery, he has a scar that runs from one ear to the other over the top of his head.[12] Contador started to train again at the end of 2004 and eight months after the surgery he won the fifth stage of the 2005 Tour Down Under racing for Liberty Seguros, as the team previously known as ONCE had become.[9] He went on to win the third stage and the overall classification of the Setmana Catalana, thus winning his first stage race as a professional. He also won an individual time trial during the Vuelta al País Vasco, where he finished third, and the fourth stage of the Tour de Romandie, where he finished fourth overall.[3]
In 2006, he won stages at the Tour de Romandie and Tour de Suisse in preparation for the Tour de France. Prior to the start of the race he was implicated along with several teammates in the Operación Puerto doping case by the Spanish authorities, and the team was not able to start. He was later cleared by the Union Cycliste Internationale, cycling's governing body.[13] Contador returned to racing in the Vuelta a Burgos but he crashed after finishing fifth in stage 4, when he was riding back down to the team bus, and briefly lost consciousness.[14]
2007 season
After having been implicated in the Operación Puerto doping case, Contador was without a professional contract until mid-January 2007, when he signed with Discovery Channel.[15]
Contador's first major professional victory came with the 2007 Paris–Nice, which he won on the race's final stage. Discovery effectively wore down the remnants of the race leader Davide Rebellin's Gerolsteiner team, allowing Contador to launch an attack on the final climb. With Rebellin leading the chase, Contador held off his competitors in the final kilometers, winning him the race.[16]
In the 2007 Tour de France, he won a stage at the mountaintop finish of Plateau-de-Beille, and was second in the general classification to Michael Rasmussen.[17] Upon Rasmussen's removal from the race before stage 17 for lying to his team about his pre-race training whereabouts,[18] Contador assumed the overall lead and the yellow jersey, though he did not don it until after the stage.[19] In the stage 19 individual time trial, he managed to defy expectations and keep hold of the yellow jersey by a margin of only 23 seconds over challenger Cadel Evans and 31 seconds over teammate Levi Leipheimer. As this was the Tour's penultimate stage, it was the last real competition of the race (since the final stage is traditionally non-competitive save for a bunched sprint to the finish line) and it secured Contador his first Tour de France victory.[20] It is the closest the top three finishers in the Tour de France have ever finished to one another.[21]
After Discovery Channel announced 2007 would be its final season in professional cycling, Contador announced on 23 October 2007 that he would move to the Astana team for 2008.[22]
2008 season
On 13 February 2008, the organizer of the Tour de France, the Amaury Sport Organisation, announced that Astana would not be invited to any of their events in 2008 due to the doping previously perpetrated by Astana, despite the fact that its management and most of its ridership had changed before the 2008 season.[23] Consequently, Contador was unable to defend his 2007 Paris–Nice and 2007 Tour de France victories. He went on to win his second Vuelta a Castilla y León, as well as the Vuelta al País Vasco by winning the opening stage and the final individual time trial. His next scheduled race and objective was the Dauphiné Libéré but his team received an invite to the 2008 Giro d'Italia one week prior to the start of the race. Contador was on a beach in Spain when he was told he was going to ride the Giro.[24]
Despite the lack of preparation, he finished second in the first individual time trial and took the pink jersey after the 15th stage up to Passo Fedaia. Upon winning the final pink jersey in Milan, he became the first non-Italian to win the Giro d'Italia since Pavel Tonkov in 1996 and also the second Spanish rider to win the Giro after Miguel Indurain won in 1992 and 1993. He later emphasized the importance of this win by saying that "taking part in the Giro and winning it was a really big achievement, bigger than if I'd had a second victory in the Tour de France".[25]
At the 2008 Summer Olympic Games, Contador competed in the road race and the individual road time trial. He did not finish in the road race, in which 53 of the 143 starters did not complete the course in particularly hot and humid conditions.[26] He placed fourth in the individual time trial, eight seconds behind his regular teammate Leipheimer.[27]
Contador entered the 2008 Vuelta a España as the main candidate to win. His biggest challenger was likely to be compatriot Carlos Sastre, who had won the Tour de France just a month before.[25] Contador won stage 13 by attacking on the fabled Angliru climb and this resulted in him capturing the golden jersey as the leader of the race. He extended his lead by winning stage 14 to Fuentes de Invierno and maintained his lead in subsequent flat stages and the final time trial. That final time trial was won by Leipheimer by a wide margin. Contador later took some offense to Leipheimer seemingly riding with winning the Vuelta in mind, after it had been established earlier in the race that Contador was Astana's team leader.[28] In the final standings, Contador finished 46 seconds ahead of Leipheimer and more than four minutes ahead of Sastre.[29] The win made him the fifth cyclist to win all three Grand Tours, after Jacques Anquetil, Felice Gimondi, Eddy Merckx, and Bernard Hinault.[30] In the process he also became the first Spaniard,[31] youngest (age 25),[32] and shortest amount of time to accumulate all three wins (15 months).[33] He also became only the third cyclist to win the Giro and the Vuelta in the same year, joining Merckx (who did it in 1973) and Giovanni Battaglin (who did it in 1981).[7]
Later in the year, Contador won the Vélo d'Or award for the best rider of the year for the second consecutive season. The Giro and Vuelta winner beat Olympic time-trial champion Fabian Cancellara and Tour winner Carlos Sastre in a vote by international cycling writers.[34]
2009 season
On 9 September 2008, the seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong announced that he was returning to professional cycling with the express goal of participating in the 2009 Tour de France.[35] Astana manager Johan Bruyneel, Armstrong's former mentor and sporting director, said that he could not allow Armstrong riding for another team and later signed him. The announcement by Armstrong clashed with the ambitions of Contador, who insisted he deserved the leadership of Astana, and hinted at the possibility of leaving the team if he was given a secondary role supporting Armstrong.[36] Contador was later given assurances by Bruyneel that he would remain team leader and decided to remain at Astana for the 2009 season.[37] Contador later claimed the situation was drastically overblown by the media.[38] Contador decided to miss the 2009 Giro d'Italia to focus on winning the Tour de France.[39]
Contador started his 2009 season at the Volta ao Algarve race in Portugal, winning the overall classification, placing second on stage 3, and winning the decisive 33 km individual time trial.[40] He was in position to win Paris–Nice again after winning the prologue and the toughest mountain stage, but suffered a breakdown in stage 7, losing his yellow jersey to fellow Spaniard Luis Leon Sánchez. Contador and his Astana team later blamed the breakdown on Contador eating inadequately, leaving him without the energy to chase attacks.[41] Contador finished fourth overall. Contador continued his build up to the Tour by racing the Dauphiné Libéré. He put in a strong performance of the opening time trial and stayed in touch with race leader Cadel Evans on the longer time trial.[42] However, the strong ride of compatriot Alejandro Valverde up the Ventoux distanced Contador and he rode to help Valverde take the Yellow Jersey while finishing comfortably in third place overall.[43]
On 26 June 2009, Contador competed in the Time Trial of the Spanish National Championships. He stated that he entered the race in order to gain more experience on his new Trek TT bike, but he came away with a convincing victory over Luis León Sánchez, the defending champion, winning by 37 seconds. This is his first National Championship as a professional.
Contador won Stage 15 of the 2009 Tour de France by soloing to the finish line more than a minute ahead of most of his closest GC competitors, and in so doing took the general classification leader's yellow jersey.[44] He then extended his lead on Stage 17, after finishing second in a breakaway of three riders with the same time as the stage winner, and then the next day he won the second time trial, increasing his overall advantage to more than four minutes.[45][46]
Contador won his second Tour de France on 26 July 2009 with a winning margin of 4'11" over Andy Schleck. He finished 5'24" ahead of Lance Armstrong, who finished third in his return to the Tour after a four year absence.[47] Contador has won the last four Grand Tour races that he has entered. During the celebration at the podium, the organizers of the Tour wrongly played the Danish National Anthem instead of the Spanish Royal March.[48][49] In the aftermath of the tour, Contador and Armstrong engaged in a war of words, with Contador quoted as saying that, although Armstrong "is a great rider and [..] did a great Tour[, but] on a personal level [..] I have never admired him and never will", and Armstrong responding that "a champion is also measured on how much he respects his teammates and opponents."[50] The sniping caused others, such as the director of the Tour, to wonder "what it would have been like to have had Contador and Armstrong in different teams."[50]
On 31 July, Contador's agent (who is also his brother) announced that Contador had turned down an offer to remain with Astana under a new four-year contract because he had felt so uncomfortable being caught between the Kazakhstan owners of the team on one side and Bruyneel on the other, and he was hoping to leave Astana at the end of the year, although his contract does not expire until the end of 2010.[51] However, on 11 August, Contador's teammate and close friend Sérgio Paulinho accepted a two-year contract with Team RadioShack, indicating that Contador might not be able to leave Astana as readily as he and his agent wished.[52] This was confirmed on 15 August, when a spokesperson for the Kazakhstan sponsors of Astana said that they intended to sponsor the Astana team on the UCI ProTour through 2013 and that they intended to enforce the last year of Contador's contract with Astana in 2010.[53]
2010 season
On 21 February, Contador won his first race of the season, the Volta ao Algarve, by winning its queen stage and finishing second in the final time trial.[54][55] Due to new UCI regulations concerning the nose cone of time trial bikes, Contador did not use his Shiv time trial bike, and instead used the standard red Specialized time trial bike.[56] On 14 March, Contador won his second Paris–Nice, finishing ahead of other pre-race favorites like Alejandro Valverde and Luis León Sánchez. His main attack came in the mountaintop finish to Mende, where he crossed the finish line alone and successfully secured the yellow jersey.[57] Contador also competed in and concluded the Criterium International with a second place in the final time trial, only 2 seconds behind stage winner David Millar, while Pierrick Fedrigo successfully defended the maillot jaune against rivals such as Cadel Evans and Samuel Sánchez.
On 19 July, in stage 15 of the Tour de France, when race leader Andy Schleck's chain fell off, Contador did not stop, but attacked, and thereby gained enough time over Schleck to take the yellow jersey from him. Schleck said he considered Contador's actions to be unsporting,[58] and Contador met with a mixed reception from fans as he received the yellow jersey on the podium at the end of the stage.[59] Jered Gruber, writing for Velo Nation, argued that Contador was right to attack, considering Schleck did not wait for Contador when he was delayed behind a pile-up caused by the crash of Schleck's brother, Fränk, on the cobblestones in stage 3.[60] Hours after the conclusion of the stage, Contador voiced an apology for his behavior on his Youtube channel.[61] In the stage 19 time trial, Contador beat Schleck's time by 31 seconds, the exact amount of time he had in deficit to Schleck prior to stage 15. On 25 July 2010, Contador won the Tour de France for the third time with an advantage of 39 seconds over Andy Schleck.[62] Contador became the seventh rider to win a Tour de France without winning a stage.
Contador has signed a two-year contract with Team Saxo Bank (Team Saxo Bank-SunGard in the 2011 season) to ride under team manager Bjarne Riis, who revealed that he would like Contador to try winning all three Grand Tours in one season, a feat never before accomplished. Contador's agent and brother Fran later countered the statement by saying it was "nothing but a dream". Within two weeks, three of Contador's Spanish teammates signed to make the same transfer: Jesús Hernández, Daniel Navarro and Benjamín Noval.[63]
Doping allegations
Operation Puerto
After final rosters had been presented for the 2006 Tour de France, Contador and five other members of the Astana-Würth team were barred from competing due to alleged connections with the Operación Puerto doping case. Contador and four other members of his team at the time, Astana-Würth, were eventually cleared of all charges on 26 July 2006 by the Spanish courts and later two out of the five (including Contador) were cleared by the UCI.[13] Each received a written document signed by Manuel Sánchez Martín, secretary for the Spanish court, stating that "there are not any type of charges against them nor have there been adopted any type of legal action against them."[64]
In May 2006, a document from the summary of the investigation (Documento 31) was released. In it, Contador's initials (A.C.) were associated with a hand-written note saying, "Nada o igual a J.J." (Spanish for "Nothing or like J.J."). J.J. were the initials of Jörg Jaksche, who later admitted to being guilty of blood doping prepared by the Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes in 2005.[65][66] Contador was questioned in December 2006 by the magistrate in charge of the Puerto file. The rider declared to Judge Antonio Serrano that he did not know Eufemanio Fuentes personally.[67] According to French daily Le Monde, he refused then to undergo a DNA test that would have judged whether or not he had any link to the blood bags that were found in the investigation.[68]
On 28 July 2007, Le Monde, citing what it claimed was an investigation file to which it had access, stated that Contador's name appeared in several documents found during Operación Puerto.[69] A second reference includes initials of riders’ names that appeared on another training document, although neither of those two references could be linked to doping practices.[70]
On 30 July 2007, German doping expert Werner Franke accused Contador of having taken drugs in the past and being prescribed a doping regimen by Fuentes, who was connected with Operación Puerto.[71][72] He passed his allegations on to the German authorities on 31 July 2007.[73] Contador denied the accusations, saying "I was in the wrong team at the wrong time and somehow my name got among the documents."[73] On 10 August, Contador publicly declared himself to be a clean rider in face of suspicions about his alleged links to the Operación Puerto blood doping ring.[74]
2009 Verbier climb
During the 2009 Tour de France, former Tour champion Greg LeMond wrote a column for Le Monde in which he noted that Contador's time up Verbier was the fastest climb in the history of the Tour, which LeMond claimed would require a level of oxygen transport (VO2) "that has never been achieved by any athlete in any sport," and demanded that Contador prove that he was capable of that level of aerobic ability "without falling back to the use of performance enhancing products."[75] At a press conference later that day, Contador refused to answer questions about the article.[76] Subsequently, other experts disagreed with the calculations in LeMond's article, which were done by French physiology professor Antoine Vayer, who was a trainer for the Festina cycling team until the Festina affair in 1998.[77] Two physiologists claimed Vayer's assumptions overstate the needed level of oxygen transport, and that the level Contador needed, while "still quite high," is "not so high that you can definitively state that it can only be achieved via doping."[78][79] A third, who noted that Vayer is the leading expert in this field and "more than anyone, knows how to look at a climb in context", nevertheless also questioned Vayer's assumptions.[80]
Major achievements
- 2003 – ONCE-Eroski
- Tour de Pologne
- 1st, Stage 8 (ITT)
- 2004 – Liberty Seguros
- Vuelta a Aragón
- Winner mountains classification
- 2005 – Liberty Seguros-Würth
- Vuelta al País Vasco
- 3rd Overall classification
- Winner points classification
- 1st, Stage 6 (ITT)
- Tour Down Under
- 1st, Stage 5
- Setmana Catalana
Winner overall classification- Winner combination classification
- 1st, Stage 3
- Tour de Romandie
- 4th Overall classification
- 1st, Stage 4
- 2006 – Astana-Würth
- Tour de Suisse
- 1st, Stage 8
- Tour de Romandie
- 2nd Overall classification
- 1st, Stage 3
- 2007 – Discovery Channel
- Vuelta a Castilla y León
Winner overall classification
Winner combination classification
Winner Spanish rider classification- 1st, Stage 4
- Paris–Nice
- Winner overall classification
- Winner young rider classification
- 1st, Stage 4
- 1st, Stage 7
- Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana
- 1st, Stage 4
- Tour de France
- Winner overall classification
- Winner young rider classification
- 1st, Stage 14
- 2008 – Astana
- Vuelta a Castilla y León
- Winner overall classification
- Winner combination classification
- Winner Spanish rider classification
- 1st, Stage 1 (ITT)
- 1st, Stage 4
- Vuelta a País Vasco
- Winner overall classification
- 1st Stage 1
- 1st Stage 6 (ITT)
- Giro d'Italia
Winner overall classification
- Beijing Olympics
- 4th, Individual Time Trial
- Vuelta a España
Winner overall classification- Winner combination classification
- 1st, Stage 13
- 1st, Stage 14
- 2009 – Astana
- Volta ao Algarve
- Winner overall classification
- 1st, Stage 4 (ITT)
- Paris–Nice
- 4th overall classification
- 1st, Stage 1 (ITT)
- 1st, Stage 6
- Vuelta al País Vasco
- Winner overall classification
- 1st, Stage 3
- 1st, Stage 6 (ITT)
- Dauphiné Libéré
- 3rd overall classification
- Spanish National Time Trial Championships
- 1st position
- Tour de France
- Winner overall classification
- 1st, Stage 4 (TTT)
- 1st, Stage 15
- 1st, Stage 18 (ITT)
- 2010 – Astana
- Volta ao Algarve
- Winner overall classification
- 1st, Stage 3
- Paris–Nice
- Winner overall classification
- 1st, Stage 4
- Vuelta a Castilla y León
- Winner overall classification
- Winner combination classification
- Winner Spanish rider classification
- 1st, Stage 4 (ITT)
- La Flèche Wallonne
- 3rd position
- Critérium du Dauphiné
- 2nd, overall classification
- 1st, Prologue (ITT)
- 1st, Stage 6
Winner points classification
- Tour de France
- Winner overall classification
Grand Tours overall classification results timeline
| Grand Tour | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Giro |
– | – | – | 1 | – | – |
| Tour |
31 | – | 1 | – | 1 | 1 |
| Vuelta |
– | – | – | 1 | – |
References
- ↑ "Paris-Nice Analysis: Contador the unstoppable?". Cycling Weekly. 2009-03-09. http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/ParisNice_analysis_Contador_the_unstoppable_article_278295.html. Retrieved 2009-05-18.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Fotheringham, Alasdair (2008-09-23). "Tour of Spain winner Contador is world's top stage racer". Universal Sports via Reuters. http://www.universalsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPID=13044&DB_OEM_ID=23000&ATCLID=1588169. Retrieved 2009-05-18.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Alberto Contador: Rider Profile". Cycling Weekly. 2008-10-27. http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/Rider_Profile_Alberto_Contador_article_270848.html. Retrieved 2009-05-18.
- ↑ Verkuylen, Paul (2007-07-28). "A time trial showdown to rival 1989?". Cyclingnews. http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/road/2007/tour07/?id=/features/2007/tour_ttshowdown_preview07. Retrieved 2009-05-19. "On a course like this, Evans and Leipheimer would normally out-class a climber like Contador"
- ↑ Williams, Phillip (2007-07-25). "Evans could still win Tour de France". Australian Broadcasting Company. http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2008/s2314962.htm. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
- ↑ "Expert says he has evidence Tour winner doped". Associated Press. MSNBC. 2007-07-31. http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/20044184/. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 "Alberto Contador Biography". albertocontador.es. http://www.albertocontador.es/biografia.php. Retrieved 2009-05-18.
- ↑ "Talento y sacrificio para llegar a lo más alto (Spanish)". El Diario. 2007-08-10. http://www.eldiariomontanes.es/20070729/deportes/talento-sacrificio-para-llegar_200707291632.html. Retrieved 2009-05-18.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 "Past Highlights & Podiums". Astana Team. http://www.astana-cyclingteam.com/Rider_Details.aspx?Code=4#gpm1_3. Retrieved 2009-05-18.
- ↑ "Alberto Contador – Happy Just To Be Alive!". 2008-10-23. http://stanford.wellsphere.com/biking-article/alberto-contador-happy-just-to-be-alive/453583. Retrieved 2009-05-22.
- ↑ "Spanish Fiestas:Alberto Contador". Spanish Fiestas. http://www.spanish-fiestas.com/celebrities/alberto-contador.htm. Retrieved 2009-05-22.
- ↑ Speck, Ivan (2007-07-29). "Courageous Contador can lift the cloud". London: DailyMail.co.uk. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/othersports/article-471621/Courageous-Contador-lift-cloud.html. Retrieved 2009-05-24.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Tan, Anthony (2006-08-17). "Former Liberty five: 2/5 cleared". Cyclingnews. http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2006/aug06/aug17news2. Retrieved 2009-05-18.
- ↑ Jones, Jeff (2006-08-11). "Contador crashes". Cyclingnews. http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2006/aug06/aug11news. Retrieved 2009-05-18.
- ↑ Stokes, Shane (2007-01-15). "Contador signs with Discovery Channel". Cyclingnews. http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2007/jan07/jan15news2. Retrieved 2009-05-18.
- ↑ Quénet, Jean-François (2007-02-18). "Alberto Contador on Miguel Indurain's path". Cyclingnews. http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/road/2007/mar07/parisnice07/?id=results/parisnice077. Retrieved 2009-05-18.
- ↑ Brown, Gregor (2007-07-22). "Rasmussen takes control of the Tour". Cyclingnews. http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/road/2007/tour07/?id=results/tour0714. Retrieved 2009-05-18.
- ↑ "The Rasmussen schandal". NRC Handelsblad. 2009-01-06. http://www.nrc.nl/international/Features/article1858787.ece/The_Rasmussen_schandal. Retrieved 2009-05-20.
- ↑ Brown, Gregor (2007-07-26). "'Benna' blasts to first Tour stage win in Castelsarrasin". Cyclingnews. http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/road/2007/tour07/?id=results/tour0717. Retrieved 2009-05-18.
- ↑ Brown, Gregor (2007-07-28). "Kid Contador conquers Tour de France". Cyclingnews. http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/road/2007/tour07/?id=results/tour0719. Retrieved 2009-05-18.
- ↑ "Contador:Another Victory For Discovery". Letour.fr. 2007-07-29. http://www.letour.fr/2007/TDF/LIVE/us/2000/journal_etape.html. Retrieved 2009-05-18.
- ↑ Hood, Andrew (2007-10-23). "Contador confirms with Astana". VeloNews.com. http://www.velonews.com/race/int/articles/13559.0.html. Retrieved 2007-10-23.
- ↑ Haake, Bjorn (2008-02-13). "Alberto Contador may not be able to defend Tour de France title". Cyclingnews. http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2008/feb08/feb13news3. Retrieved 2008-02-13.
- ↑ Hood, Andrew (2008-05-09). "Contador: from the beach to the Giro". VeloNews.com. http://www.velonews.com/article/76007. Retrieved 2009-05-18.
- ↑ 25.0 25.1 "Vuelta a Espana – Contador plays down favourite tag". uk.eurosport.yahoo.com. 2008-08-29. http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/29082008/58/vuelta-espana-contador-plays-favourite-tag.html. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
- ↑ "Cycling – Men's Road Race Final Results". The Official Website of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. 2008-08-09. http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRM/ENG/INF/CR/C73R/CRM012101.shtml#CRM012101. Retrieved 2009-05-18.
- ↑ "Cycling – Men's Road Individual Time Trial Final Results". The Official Website of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. 2008-08-09. http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRM/ENG/INF/CR/C73T/CRM011101.shtml#CRM011101. Retrieved 2009-05-18.
- ↑ ESPN.com news services (2008-09-24). "Contador says Armstrong could pose 'difficult' situation on team". ESPN.com. http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/cycling/news/story?id=3604414. Retrieved 2009-05-18.
- ↑ "Stage 21 – September 21: San Sebastián de los Reyes – Madrid, 102.2 km". Cyclingnews. 2008-09-21. http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/road/2008/vuelta08/?id=results/vuelta0821. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
- ↑ Birnie, Lionel (2008-09-21). "Contador quickest to complete Grand Tour set". Cycling Weekly. http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/Contador_quickest_to_complete_grand_tour_set_article_268244.html. Retrieved 2009-05-20.
- ↑ "Contador wins Spanish Vuelta; first Spaniard to win cycling's big three". Reuters via ESPN. 2008-09-21. http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/cycling/news/story?id=3600784. Retrieved 2009-05-20.
- ↑ Hood, Andrew (2008-09-20). "Leipheimer wins final TT; Contador locks up Vuelta". VeloNews. http://www.velonews.com/article/83412/. Retrieved 2009-05-20.
- ↑ "Contador maintains lead in Vuelta". AP via the Taipei Times. 2008-09-22. http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/sport/archives/2008/09/22/2003423836. Retrieved 2009-05-20.
- ↑ Farrand, Stephen (2008-11-26). "Contador Wins Velo d'Or Award". Cycling Weekly. http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/Contador_wins_Velo_dOr_award_article_272857.html. Retrieved 2009-05-18.
- ↑ "Lance Armstrong to return for 2009 Tour de France". Associate Press via the Arizona Republic. 2008-09-08. http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/sports/articles/2008/09/08/20080908armstrongON.html. Retrieved 2009-05-22.
- ↑ "Bruyneel: Armstrong, Contador will have to work together". sports.espn.go.com. 2008-10-02. http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/cycling/news/story?id=3621407. Retrieved 2008-11-27.
- ↑ "Contador will stay at Astana". velonews.com. 2008-10-18. http://www.velonews.com/article/84387/contador-will-stay-at-astana. Retrieved 2008-11-27.
- ↑ "Cycling and Fame, Life and Death". El Pais. 2008-11-10. http://www.albertocontadornotebook.info/media.html. Retrieved 2009-05-22.
- ↑ "Contador opts to miss 2009 Giro". news.bbc.co.uk. 2008-10-28. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/cycling/7696002.stm. Retrieved 2008-11-27.
- ↑ Brown, Gregor (2009-02-22). "Haussler wins final Algarve stage; Contador overall". Cyclingnews. http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/road.php?id=road/2009/feb09/algarve09/algarve095. Retrieved 2009-05-18.
- ↑ Haake, Bjorn (2009-03-14). "Sánchez topples Contador". Cyclingnews. http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/road.php?id=road/2009/feb09/algarve09/algarve095. Retrieved 2009-05-18. "He said he had a hunger knock in the finale and could not answer the attack of Sánchez."
- ↑ Quénet, Jean-François (2009-06-11). "Stage 4 – June 10: Bourg-Les-Valence – Valence (ITT), 42.4km". Cyclingnews. http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/road/2009/jun09/dauphinelibere09/?id=results/dauphinelibere094. Retrieved 2009-06-20.
- ↑ Quénet, Jean-François (2009-06-14). "Stage 8 – June 14: Faverges – Grenoble, 146km". Cyclingnews. http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/road/2009/jun09/dauphinelibere09/?id=results/dauphinelibere098. Retrieved 2009-06-20.
- ↑ Les Clarke (2009-07-19). "Contador king of Verbier". Cyclingnews. http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/96th-tour-de-france-gt/stages/stage-16/results. Retrieved 2009-07-19.
- ↑ "Contador moves closer to Tour win". BBC Sport. 2009-07-22. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/cycling/8163760.stm. Retrieved 2009-07-23.
- ↑ Macur, Juliet (2009-07-23). "Contador Still in the Lead With Time Trial Victory". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/24/sports/cycling/24tour.html?hpw. Retrieved 2009-07-23.
- ↑ "Contador seals 2009 Tour victory". BBC Sport. 2009-07-26. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/cycling/8169503.stm. Retrieved 2009-07-27.
- ↑ "¡¡En París suena el himno danés en honor a Contador!!". Marca. 2009-07-26. http://www.marca.com/2009/07/26/ciclismo/tour_francia/1248625187.html. Retrieved 2009-07-26.
- ↑ "Cycling: Contador Tour win celebrated with wrong anthem". Cycling Central. 2009-07-26. http://tdf.sbs.com.au/tdf2009/news/article/19717/-Contador-Tour-win-celebrated-with-wrong-anthem. Retrieved 2009-07-27.
- ↑ 50.0 50.1 "Contador, Armstrong trade barbs after Tour". Associated Press. 2009-09-15. http://sports.yahoo.com/sc/news?slug=ap-contador-armstrong. Retrieved 2009-07-29.
- ↑ Reuters (2009-07-31). "Contador turns down Astana offer, says agent". http://www.reuters.com/article/sportsNews/idUSTRE56U1J420090731. Retrieved 8/1/2009.
- ↑ Andrew Hood (2009-08-11). "Paulinho follows Armstrong to RadioShack; Azevedo new DS". VeloNews. http://www.velonews.com/article/96556/. Retrieved 2009-08-18.
- ↑ AFP (2009-08-15). "Astana intends to enforce Contador's contract". VeloNews. http://www.velonews.com/article/96670/astana-intends-to-enforce-contador-s-contract. Retrieved 2009-08-18.
- ↑ Cycling News (2010-02-19). "Contador takes control in Malhão". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/volta-ao-algarve-2-1/stage-3/results. Retrieved 2010-02-20.
- ↑ Stephen Farrand (2010-02-21). "Contador wins the Volta ao Algarve". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/volta-ao-algarve-2-1/stage-5-itt/results. Retrieved 2010-02-21.
- ↑ James Huang (2010-02-19). "Specialized Shiv time trial design possibly banned by UCI". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/specialized-shiv-time-trial-design-possibly-banned-by-uci. Retrieved 2010-02-20.
- ↑ "Contador claims second Paris-Nice". BBC Sport. 2010-03-14. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/cycling/8567053.stm. Retrieved 2010-03-14.
- ↑ "Contador seizes Tour de France lead from Schleck". BBC Sport. 2010-07-19. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/cycling/8835486.stm. Retrieved 2010-07-23.
- ↑ PA Sport (2010-07-19). "Contador steals lead". Sportal Australia. PA Sport. http://sportal.com.au/tourdefrance-news-display/contador-steals-lead-95155. Retrieved 2010-07-19.
- ↑ http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/4951/Alberto-Contador-Today-we-could-not-do-like-we-did-in-Spa.aspx
- ↑ Mackey, Robert (2010-07-19). "Contador Apologizes on YouTube". The New York Times. http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/19/contador-apologizes-on-youtube/.
- ↑ "Alberto Contador seals third Tour de France victory". BBC Sport. 2010-07-25. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/cycling/8852774.stm. Retrieved 2010-07-25.
- ↑ http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/saxo-bank-sungard-signs-contadors-top-spaniards
- ↑ Andrew Hood, Astana 5' cleared by Spanish courts, VeloNews, 26 July 2006
- ↑ Drap, Rob (2007-07-08). "Now the man they hoped would save the Tour faces a new inquiry into doping allegations". London: DailyMail.co.uk. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/othersports/article-471522/Now-man-hoped-save-Tour-faces-new-inquiry-doping-allegations.html. Retrieved 2008-05-30.
- ↑ Gutiérrez, Juan (27 July 2007). "El Tour califica a Contador de líder "limpio" y "creíble" (Spanish)". As.com. http://www.as.com/mas-deporte/articulo/tour-califica-contador-lider-limpio/daimas/20070727dasdaimas_3/Tes. Retrieved 2008-05-30.
- ↑ Johnson, Greg (6 December 2006). "First witnesses testify in Operación Puerto". Cyclingnews. http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2006/dec06/dec13news. Retrieved 2008-05-30.
- ↑ "An Interview with Alberto Contador, July 29, 2007". Cyclingnews. 2007-07-29. http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/road/2007/tour07/?id=/riders/2007/interviews/tour_alberto_contador_stage1907. Retrieved 2008-05-30.
- ↑ Mandard, Stéphane (2007-07-28). "Alberto Contador, maillot jaune miraculé de l'"opération Puerto" (French)". Le Monde. http://www.lemonde.fr/tour-de-france/article/2007/07/28/contador-n-aurait-pas-du-participer-au-tour_940003_676968.html#ens_id=940173. Retrieved 2008-05-30.
- ↑ Hood, Andrew (2007-07-26). "On the list, off the list – Alberto Contador and Operación Puerto". VeloNews. http://www.velonews.com/article/12964. Retrieved 2008-05-30.
- ↑ Agence France Presse (2007-07-31). "German drugs expert points finger at Contador". Sydney Morning Herald. http://www.smh.com.au/news/tourdefrance/greatest-swindle-in-sporting-history/2007/07/31/1185647857951.html. Retrieved 2007-07-31.
- ↑ ""Das größte Ding aller Zeiten"(The greatest thing of all times)" (in German). ZDF. 2007-07-30. http://www.zdf.de/ZDFsport/inhalt/25/0,5676,5579481,00.html. Retrieved 2007-07-30.
- ↑ 73.0 73.1 "Expert claims Contador doped". iol.co.za. 2007-08-01. http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=6&click_id=4&art_id=vn20070801130748974C945748. Retrieved 2007-08-01.
- ↑ "Contador: ‘I have never doped'". VeloNews. 2007-08-10. http://www.velonews.com/news/fea/13069.0.html. Retrieved 2007-08-10.
- ↑ Greg LeMond (23 July 2009). "Alberto, prove to me that we can believe in you (in French)". Le Monde. http://www.lemonde.fr/sports/article/2009/07/23/alberto-prouve-moi-qu-on-peut-croire-en-toi-par-greg-lemond_1221871_3242.html. Retrieved 2009-07-23.
- ↑ AFP (23 July 2009). "Contador dodges bothersome doping questions". http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5j4QybEAuuqMa6K4hxLocuLa6QQmQ. Retrieved 2009-07-23.
- ↑ Antoine Vayer (27 July 2009). "Contador, the kerosene in the veins (in French)". Libération. http://www.cyclisme-dopage.com/actualite/2009-07-27-liberation.htm. Retrieved 28 July 2009.
- ↑ Laura Weislo (23 July 2009). "Contador's climbing credibility questioned". cyclingnews.com. http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/contadors-climbing-credibility-questioned. Retrieved 2009-07-23.
- ↑ Ricardo Mora (27 July 2009). "La fuerza de un extraterrestre". El País. http://www.elpais.com/articulo/deportes/fuerza/extraterrestre/elpepidep/20090727elpepidep_4/Tes. Retrieved 2009-07-27.
- ↑ The Science of Sport: Tour de France 2009: Contador VO2max
External links
- Official website (Spanish) (English)
- Alberto Contador profile at Cycling Archives
- Alberto Contador Video Alberto does wind tunnel testing on new bike
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Preceded by Paolo Bettini (ITA) |
Vélo d'Or 2007–2009 |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
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