Alberto Contador
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| Image:CONTADORGIRO8287.jpg | |
| Contador at the 2007 Paris-Nice | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Alberto Contador Velasco |
| Date of birth | December 6, 1982 |
| Country | Spain |
| Height | 1.76 m (5 ft 91⁄2 in) |
| Weight | 62 kg (140 lb) |
| Team information | |
| Current team | Astana |
| Discipline | Road |
| Role | Rider |
| Rider type | All-rounder |
| Professional team(s) | |
| 2003–2006 2007 2008– |
Liberty Seguros Discovery Channel Astana |
| Major wins | |
  Tour de France (2007), 1 stage Giro d'Italia (2008)Paris-Nice (2007) Setmana Catalana (2005) Vuelta al País Vasco (2008) |
|
| Infobox last updated on: | |
| June 1, 2008 | |
Alberto Contador Velasco (born 6 December 1982 in Pinto, Madrid) is a Spanish professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam Team Astana, winner of the 2007 Tour de France with team Discovery Channel and of the 2008 Giro d'Italia with Astana. While he competes for the overall titles, he is considered a climbing specialist. Contador lives in his hometown Pinto.[1]
Contents |
[edit] Career
[edit] Early years
Contador turned professional in 2003 for ONCE-Eroski. In his first year as a professional he won the eighth stage (ITT) of Tour de Pologne. During the first stage of the 2004 Vuelta a Asturias he started to feel bad, and after 40 kilometers he fell and went into convulsions. He had suffered headaches for several days beforehand and was diagnosed with a cerebral cavernoma, a congenital vascular disorder, for which he underwent a risky surgery and a long road to recovery to get back on his bike.[2] Contador started to train again at the end of 2004 and eight months after the surgery he won the fifth stage of 2005 Tour Down Under.[3] 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 Vuelta al País Vasco, where he finished third, and the fourth stage of Tour de Romandie, where he finished fourth. In his first appearance in Tour de France, he finished 31st overall and third in the young rider classification.
In 2006 he won stages at Tour de Romandie and Tour de Suisse in preparation for Tour de France. Prior to the start of the race he was involved in the Operación Puerto doping case by the Spanish authorities and wasn't able to start. He was later cleared by the UCI. [4] Contador returned to racing in Vuelta a Burgos but he crashed after finishing fifth in stage 4, when he was riding back down to the team bus and he briefly lost consciousness.[5]
[edit] 2007 season
Contador was without a professional contract until mid-January 2007, when he signed with Discovery Channel under a cloud of suspicion due to the Operación Puerto doping case.[6]
Contador's first major professional victory came with the 2007 Paris-Nice, which he won in dramatic fashion 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 authoritative attack on the final climb. With Rebellin leading the chase, Contador held off his competitors in the final kilometers, winning him this prestigious race.
In the 2007 Tour de France, he won the 14th stage at the mountaintop finish of Plateau-de-Beille, and was second in the general classification to Michael Rasmussen. Upon Rasmussen's removal from the race after stage 17, Contador assumed the overall lead and the yellow jersey. In stage 19, a time trial, he managed to keep hold of the yellow jersey by a margin of only twenty-three seconds over challenger Cadel Evans and went on to win his first Tour de France, the first win for the Discovery Channel team since Lance Armstrong's victory in 2005.
After the announcement of the future termination of team Discovery Channel, Contador announced on October 23, 2007 that he would move to Astana for 2008. [7]
[edit] 2008 season
On February 13, 2008, the organizer of the Tour de France announced that Astana would not be invited to any of their events in 2008.[8] Consequently, Contador was unable to defend his 2007 Paris-Nice and 2007 Tour de France victories. Unable to defend his Paris-Nice victory, he then went on to win his second Vuelta a Castilla y León and 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 a last minute invitation to the Giro d'Italia one week prior to the start of the race. Contador was allegedly on the beach when he was told he was going to ride the Giro.[9] Despite the lack of preparation, he finished second in the first individual time trial and took the maglia rosa after the 15th stage up to Passo Fedaia. Alberto Contador was proclaimed winner of the Giro the 1st June 2008 in Milan.
[edit] Doping allegations
Contador was kept out of the 2006 Tour de France due to connections with the Operación Puerto doping case. He and four other members of his team at the time, Astana-Würth, were cleared of all charges on July 26, 2006 by the Union Cycliste Internationale. Each received a written document officially clearing them of any links to the ongoing Operación Puerto, stating that "there are not any type of charges against them nor have there been adopted any type of legal action against them."[10]
In 2006 a document from the summary of the investigation (documento 31) was released. In it Contador initials (A.C.) were associated with a hand-written note next to his name saying, "Nada o igual a J.J." (Spanish for "Nothing or like J.J."). JJ were the initials of Jörg Jaksche, who later admitted to be guilty of blood doping prepared by the Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes in 2005.[11][12]
Alberto 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.[13] According to 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.[14]
On July 28, 2007 the French daily Le Monde, citing what it claimed was an investigation file it had access to, stated that Contador's name appeared in several documents found during Operación Puerto.[15] According to some sources, Contador's name is mentioned on a list of then-Liberty Seguros teammates that appear on a document later to identified as a list of training schedules for members of the team. A second reference includes initials of riders’ name that appeared on another training document (e.g. A.C. for Alberto Contador), although neither of those two references could be linked to doping practices.[16]
On July 30, 2007 German doping expert Werner Franke accused Contador of having taken drugs in the past and being prescribed a doping regimen by Dr. Eufemiano Fuentes, who was connected with Operación Puerto.[17][18] He passed his evidence on to the German authorities on July 31, 2007.[19] Contador denied the accusations, saying "I was in the wrong team at the wrong time and somehow my name got among the documents."[19] On August 10, Alberto Contador publicly declared he's a clean rider in face of suspicions about his alleged links to the Operación Puerto blood-doping ring. "I have never doped and I have never participated in an act of doping," said Contador, reading from his prepared statement. "I won the Tour clean. It’s impossible for me to understand the attacks made against me, questioning my integrity as a sportsman, from people who don’t know me but feel they can make such judgments. My commitment against doping is total and I will always be willing to cooperate." Contador was joined by Discovery Channel team manager Johan Bruyneel, Spanish sports minister Jaime Lissavetzky and members of his family.[20]
[edit] Major achievements
- 2003 – ONCE-Eroski
- Stage 8 (ITT), Tour de Pologne
- 4th Overall, Vuelta a Castilla y León
- 2004 – Liberty Seguros
- Mountains Classification, Vuelta a Aragón
- 5th Overall, Setmana Catalana
- 2005 – Liberty Seguros-Würth Cycling Team
- Stage 6 (ITT), Points Classification and 3rd Overall, Vuelta al País Vasco
- Stage 5, Tour Down Under
- 1st Overall, Combination Classification and Stage 3, Setmana Catalana
- Stage 4 and 4th Overall, Tour de Romandie
- 3rd, Youth Classification and 31st Overall, Tour de France
- 2006 – Astana-Würth Team
- Stage 8, Tour de Suisse
- Stage 3 and 2nd Overall, Tour de Romandie
- 5th Overall, Vuelta al País Vasco
- 2007 – Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team
- Vuelta a Castilla y León
- 1st Overall
- 1st Combination classification
- 1st Spanish rider classification
- Winner Stage 4
- Paris-Nice:
- 1st Overall
- 1st Young rider classification
- Winner stages 4 and 7
- Stage 4, Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana
- Tour de France
- Winner overall classification
- Winner youth classification
- Winner stage 14
- 2008 – Team Astana
- Vuelta a Castilla y León
- 1st Overall
- 1st Stage 1
- 1st Stage 4
- Vuelta a País Vasco
- 1st Overall
- 1st Stage 1
- 1st Stage 6
- Giro d'Italia
- Winner overall classification
[edit] References
- ^ Contador Is Thankful, cyclingnews.com, July 31, 2007
- ^ Alberto www.cyclingfans.com - Contador Tour de France Notebook:9
- ^ www.cyclingfans.com - Alberto Contador Tour de France Notebook:11
- ^ www.cyclingnews.com Latest Cycling News for August 17, 2006
- ^ Contador crashes
- ^ Contador signs with Discovery Channel
- ^ "Contador confirms with Astana", VeloNews.com, 2007-10-23. Retrieved on 2007-10-23.
- ^ Haake, Bjorn. "Alberto Contador may not be able to defend Tour de France title", Cyclingnews.com, 2008-02-13. Retrieved on 2008-02-13.
- ^ http://www.velonews.com/article/76007
- ^ Andrew Hood, Astana 5' cleared by Spanish courts, VeloNews, July 26, 2006
- ^ Rob Drap (July 28, 2007). Now the man they hoped would save the Tour faces a new inquiry into doping allegations. DailyMail.co.uk. Retrieved on 2008-05-30.
- ^ Juan Gutiérrez (July 27, 2007). El Tour califica a Contador de líder "limpio" y "creíble" (Spanish). As.com. Retrieved on 2008-05-30.
- ^ First witnesses testify in Operación Puerto. cyclingnews.com (December 6, 2006). Retrieved on 2008-05-30.
- ^ An Interview with Alberto Contador, July 29, 2007. cyclingnews.com (July 29, 2007). Retrieved on 2008-05-30.
- ^ Alberto Contador, maillot jaune miraculé de l'"opération Puerto" (French). Le Monde (July 28, 2007). Retrieved on 2008-05-30.
- ^ Andrew Hood (July 26, 2007). On the list, off the list - Alberto Contador and Operación Puerto. VeloNews. Retrieved on 2008-05-30.
- ^ German drugs expert points finger at Contador. Sydney Morning Herald (July 31, 2007). Retrieved on 2007-07-31.
- ^ "Das größte Ding aller Zeiten"(The greatest thing of all times) (German). ZDF (July 30, 2007). Retrieved on 2007-07-30.
- ^ a b "Expert claims Contador doped", iol.co.za, 2007-08-01. Retrieved on 2007-08-01.
- ^ "Contador: ‘I have never doped'", VeloNews, 2007-08-10. Retrieved on 2007-08-10.
[edit] External links
- Official site (Spanish) (English)
- Alberto Contador profile at the Cycling Website
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
Preceded by Óscar Pereiro |
Winner of the Tour de France 2007 |
Succeeded by incumbent |
Preceded by Danilo Di Luca |
Winner of the Giro d'Italia 2008 |
Succeeded by incumbent |
| Awards | ||
| Preceded by Paolo Bettini |
Vélo d'Or 2007 |
Succeeded by incumbent |
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| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Contador, Alberto |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Contador Velasco, Alberto |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Road bicycle racer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1982-12-06 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Madrid, Spain |
| DATE OF DEATH | |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |
