Alberto Contador on podium, Vuelta a Espana 2012, stage 20

Alberto Contador

Date of birth: 06/12/1982

From: Pinto, Spain

Team: Tinkoff-Saxo

Previous teams: Astana (2009-10), Discovery Channel (2007), Liberty Seguros/Astana (2006), Liberty Seguros (2004-5), ONCE-Eroski (2003)

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.

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 Tour of Spain 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 team-mate. 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.

Contador came back from his ban to win the 2012 Vuelta a Espana 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 Espana. He followed that up with overall victory in the 2015 Giro d'Italia.

Alberto Contador results
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 Espana; stage 16

Vuelta a Espana; stage 20

Vuelta a Espana; 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 Espana; stage 17

Vuelta a Espana; 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

Tour of the Algarve; overall

Tour of the Algarve; stage four

National time trial championships

2008

Giro d'Italia; overall

Vuelta a Espana; overall

Vuelta a Espana; stage

Vuelta a Espana; 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 of Romandie; stage

2005

Tour of 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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Nigel Wynn
Former Associate Editor

Nigel Wynn worked as associate editor on CyclingWeekly.com, he worked almost single-handedly on the Cycling Weekly website in its early days. His passion for cycling, his writing and his creativity, as well as his hard work and dedication, were the original driving force behind the website’s success. Without him, CyclingWeekly.com would certainly not exist on the size and scale that it enjoys today. Nigel sadly passed away, following a brave battle with a cancer-related illness, in 2018. He was a highly valued colleague, and more importantly, an exceptional person to work with - his presence is sorely missed.