Alberto Contador: Rider Profile

• Wednesday, 5 January 2011
• Alasdair Fotheringham
• 3 Comments

Alberto Contador wins stage, Tour of Murcia 2011, stage two

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Alberto Contador
Date of birth: 06/12/1982
From: Pinto, Spain
Team: Saxo Bank
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 just four years, the Spaniard has 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 two-year ban for testing positive for clenbuterol.

Alberto Contador results
2012
Tour of San Luis; stage three (annulled)
Tour of San Luis; stage five (annulled)
Tour of San Luis; mountains classification (annulled)

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

Alberto Contador photos
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