131 Facts About Alberto Contador

Alberto Contador Velasco is a Spanish former professional cyclist.

Alberto Contador is one of the most successful riders of his era, winning the Tour de France twice, the Giro d'Italia twice, and the Vuelta a Espana three times.

Alberto Contador is one of only seven riders to have won all three Grand Tours of cycling, and one of only two riders to have won all three more than once.

Alberto Contador has won the Velo d'Or a record 4 times.

Alberto Contador was regarded as the natural successor of Lance Armstrong and won the 2007 Tour de France with the Discovery Channel team.

Alberto Contador was known for being able to turn races around to his favour, most notably during the Fuente De stage at the 2012 Vuelta a Espana.

Alberto Contador was born on 6 December 1982 in Pinto in the Community of Madrid, the third of four children.

Alberto Contador has an older brother and sister and a younger brother, who has cerebral palsy.

Alberto Contador has a fascination for birds, keeping personally bred canaries and goldfinches at home.

Alberto Contador deliberately let himself fall back on the morning's road stage and saved energy to deliver the winning effort in the time trial in the afternoon.

Alberto Contador 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.

Alberto Contador subsequently described this win as the greatest of his career.

Alberto Contador went on to win the third stage and the overall classification of the Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme, thus winning his first stage race as a professional.

Alberto Contador won an individual time trial during the Tour of the Basque Country, where he finished third, and the fourth stage of the Tour de Romandie, where he finished fourth overall.

Alberto Contador was later cleared by the Union Cycliste Internationale, cycling's governing body.

Alberto 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.

Alberto Contador went on to win his second Vuelta a Castilla y Leon, as well as the Tour of the Basque Country by winning the opening stage and the final individual time trial.

Alberto Contador's next scheduled race and objective was the Criterium du Dauphine Libere but his team received an invite to the Giro d'Italia one week prior to the start of the race.

Alberto Contador was on a beach in Spain when he was told he was going to ride the Giro.

Alberto Contador 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".

At the 2008 Summer Olympics, Alberto Contador competed in the road race and the individual road time trial.

Alberto Contador placed fourth in the individual time trial, eight seconds behind his regular teammate Leipheimer.

Alberto Contador entered the Vuelta a Espana as the main candidate to win.

Alberto 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.

Alberto Contador extended his lead by winning stage 14 to Fuentes de Invierno and maintained his lead in subsequent flat stages and the final time trial, won by Leipheimer by a wide margin.

Alberto Contador later took some offence to Leipheimer seemingly riding with winning the Vuelta in mind, after it had been established earlier in the race that Alberto Contador was Astana's team leader.

Alberto Contador became only the third cyclist to win the Giro and the Vuelta in the same year, joining Merckx and Giovanni Battaglin.

Later in the year, Alberto Contador won the Velo d'Or award for the best rider of the year for the second consecutive season.

Alberto Contador later claimed the situation was drastically overblown by the media.

Alberto Contador decided to miss the Giro d'Italia to focus on winning the Tour de France.

Alberto 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-kilometre individual time trial.

Alberto Contador finished fourth overall; he continued his build up to the Tour de France by racing the Criterium du Dauphine Libere.

Alberto Contador put in a strong performance of the opening time trial and stayed in touch with race leader Cadel Evans on the longer time trial.

Alberto Contador won Stage 15 of the Tour de France by soloing to the finish line more than a minute ahead of most of his closest general classification competitors, and in so doing took the yellow jersey.

Alberto Contador 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.

Alberto Contador had won the last four Grand Tour races that he had entered.

On 31 July, Alberto Contador's agent announced that Alberto 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 did not expire until the end of 2010.

Alberto Contador was a favourite coming into the Tour de France, along with Team Saxo Bank's Andy Schleck.

Hours after the conclusion of the stage, Alberto Contador voiced an apology for his behaviour on his YouTube channel.

Alberto Contador became the seventh rider to win a Tour de France without winning a stage, but this win was later nullified due to his doping suspension.

Amidst the clenbuterol controversy, Alberto Contador earned his first win in the Vuelta a Murcia.

Alberto Contador won the overall classification as well as two stage victories en route to his victory.

Alberto Contador won the individual time trial of Vuelta a Castilla y Leon.

Alberto Contador competed in the Giro d'Italia, his first time racing in the Giro since his victory in 2008.

Alberto Contador won the ninth stage on Mount Etna, his first stage win at the Italian Grand Tour.

Alberto Contador attacked midway through the climb, dropping his overall rivals and gaining almost a minute on them.

Alberto Contador extended his overall lead to 3 minutes over second place Vincenzo Nibali where he broke away with Jose Rujano on the Grossglockner.

Alberto Contador solidified his lead through stage 14 up the Monte Zoncolan and a very difficult stage 15 through the Dolomites taking his lead up to 4 minutes ahead of second place Michele Scarponi.

Alberto Contador won the 12.7-kilometre mountain time-trial to Nevegal.

Alberto Contador aimed to become the first rider to win both the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France in the same year since Marco Pantani accomplished the feat in 1998.

Alberto Contador lost additional time in the team time trial at Les Essarts but finished second in the fourth stage up to Mur-de-Bretagne.

Alberto Contador suffered four crashes in the opening nine days of the Tour, injuring his right knee before facing the Pyrenees mountain stages.

Alberto Contador was dropped in the final kilometre in the stage to Luz Ardiden and finished two seconds behind Andy Schleck at the top of the Plateau de Beille.

Alberto Contador was aggressive in the next stage to Pinerolo but unable to win time to the other favourites besides Thomas Voeckler and Ivan Basso.

Alberto Contador launched an early attack on the last mountain stage to Alpe d'Huez, reaching the top of Galibier with Schleck, but their effort proved unsuccessful and they were captured by the rest of the main contenders following the long descent from the mountain.

Alberto Contador launched another attack on the first kilometres of Alpe d'Huez but he was eventually beaten to victory by Pierre Rolland with Samuel Sanchez second.

Alberto Contador started his season with still no verdict in the clenbuterol case.

Alberto Contador finished second overall in the Tour de San Luis and he won both uphill finishes, only falling short in the time trial stage of the race.

Alberto Contador attacked numerous times throughout the mountains in the first sixteen stages of the race, but with no avail, since the race leader Joaquim Rodriguez always countered and finished ahead of him.

Alberto Contador won the stage by six seconds over the first chase group and took the lead away from Rodriguez, who was relegated to more than two minutes in the general classification.

Alberto Contador held on to the race lead during the last mountain stage leading atop the Bola del Mondo, where he was dropped by Rodriguez and Alejandro Valverde, who held second place overall.

Alberto Contador managed to limit his losses and retain the lead of the race.

Alberto Contador participated in the UCI Road World Championships held in Valkenburg in both the road race and the individual time trial.

Alberto Contador was ninth in the time trial, after being overtaken by eventual winner Tony Martin, who started two minutes behind him.

Alberto Contador took the win by accelerating on the final slope of the day in sight of the final kilometre banner, dropping all contenders.

In 2013, Alberto Contador's only victory was a stage in the Tour de San Luis in January.

Alberto Contador was too late to be in optimal condition for the Tour de France, where he could not match up to Chris Froome and finished in fourth place.

Alberto Contador eventually finished second overall, 19 seconds down on Kwiatkowski.

Alberto Contador continued to show his strong form by winning the third stage of the race going to Cittareale after he outsprinted Quintana, his main rival for the race.

Alberto Contador took the lead in the general classification on the next day, winning a second successive stage as he attacked on the stage's penultimate climb before soloing to the finish.

Alberto Contador kept his lead for the remainder of the race, finishing more than two minutes clear ahead of runner-up Quintana.

Alberto Contador raced the Volta a Catalunya next, where he had his first duel with riders such as Chris Froome and Joaquim Rodriguez.

Alberto Contador finished the race in second place overall, just 4 seconds behind Rodriguez.

Alberto Contador got into a duel with fellow Spaniard Alejandro Valverde and both riders did not disappoint on the first stage.

Alberto Contador followed Valverde's attack on the stage's last climb before putting on an attack that Valverde was not able to answer.

Alberto Contador negotiated the descent and soloed to the stage win and yellow jersey, 14 seconds ahead of Valverde.

Alberto Contador started the Dauphine on good form, finishing second to Froome on the race's short individual time trial before dueling with Froome on the Col du Beal.

Unlike in 2013 where he was unable to follow the accelerations of Froome, Alberto Contador was able to stay on his rival's wheel, eventually finishing second on the stage after Froome outsprinted him to the line.

Alberto Contador had his next duel with Froome on the seventh stage, the queen stage of the race.

Alberto Contador attacked with 2 kilometres left on the stage and Froome was not able to bridge the gap to him as Alberto Contador took the yellow jersey as leader of the general classification.

However, Alberto Contador fell victim to an ambush on the next stage as several riders in the top ten went into the breakaway including Andrew Talansky, who was sitting in third place overall, 39 seconds behind Alberto Contador.

Alberto Contador was left isolated with no teammates around him as he tried to bridge the gap to the leading group but he ran out of steam as Talansky won the race overall.

However, Alberto Contador dealt a psychological blow to Froome ahead of the Tour as Froome struggled in the stage, eventually dropping to 12th place overall.

Alberto Contador avoided crashing during the first week but he lost a lot of time in the fifth stage of the race, the stage featuring cobbles as part of the route.

Alberto Contador made a final acceleration near the finish line as he took 3 seconds back on Nibali.

Alberto Contador tried to ride for nearly 20 kilometres after the crash but he eventually abandoned the Tour.

Alberto Contador initially ruled himself out of the Vuelta a Espana as well but he eventually joined the start list of the race.

Alberto Contador showed his improving form on the next mountain stage to Valdelinares, attacking with around 2 kilometres to go while dropping Froome and Valverde among others as he sat 3 seconds behind red jersey holder Quintana before the individual time trial.

Alberto Contador took the red jersey on the individual time trial as he finished fourth.

Alberto Contador showed he could defend the red jersey by staying with his fellow overall contenders.

Alberto Contador stayed in his rival's wheel before putting on a finishing kick with around 800 metres to go, winning the stage and strengthening his hold on the red jersey.

Alberto Contador suffered a crash in the Giro di Lombardia, injuring the knee that he had hurt in the Tour de France and ending his chances of winning the 2014 UCI World Tour overall classification, as he decided to forego the Tour of Beijing to better prepare for the 2015 season.

For 2015, Alberto Contador announced that he would attempt to win both the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France, a feat that had not been done since Marco Pantani accomplished it in 1998.

Alberto Contador took the race lead after the time trial on stage 1b, finishing fourth.

Alberto Contador then won stage 3, a mountaintop finish, by attacking with 7.5 kilometres to go.

Alberto Contador did however lose the race leader's jersey on the very next stage, another mountain affair, where Chris Froome snatched both the stage win and the race lead.

Froome did not relinquish his lead and Alberto Contador finished the race second in the overall classification, only 2 seconds behind.

Alberto Contador was able to remount and participate in the last stage, securing his general classification placing.

Alberto Contador's injuries sustained in the Volta a Catalunya were healed and included a micro-fissure in his sacrum.

Alberto Contador gained 6 seconds on Fabio Aru, 12 seconds on Rigoberto Uran, and 20 seconds on Richie Porte.

Alberto Contador took the maglia rosa on the summit finish on stage 5 to Abetone.

However, the next day, Alberto Contador dislocated his shoulder after crashing on the finishing straight.

Alberto Contador was able to finish but dislocated the shoulder again before the podium presentation.

However, on stage 13, on what most assumed was an "easy day" of racing, Alberto Contador crashed in a pile-up, 3.2 kilometres from the finish; he crossed the line 42 seconds behind the peloton, including Aru.

However the next day, on a 59.3-kilometre individual time trial, Alberto Contador led the field, taking back the pink jersey and created a sizable time difference over the rest of the peloton.

On stage 16, Alberto Contador suffered a mechanical problem on the descent of Apria and other teams including Astana tried to take advantage.

Still, Alberto Contador made contact with Aru at the Mortirolo Pass and put another two minutes into his rival as Mikel Landa became the second-placed rider on the general classification.

On Stage 20, Alberto Contador lost some time to both Landa and Aru but retained his pink jersey.

In preparation for the Tour, Alberto Contador chose to ride the four-day Route du Sud, where he won the queen stage and the overall classification.

Alberto Contador had solid opening to the first week of the tour; despite losing a little time to Chris Froome in the team time trial, he gained time on his rivals including Nibali and Quintana who both lost time on stage 2.

Alberto Contador struggled though on the opening summit finish losing 3 minutes to stage winner Froome putting a serious dent to his victory chances.

Alberto Contador's chances faded after he crashed on the descent of the Colle d'Allos on stage 17.

Alberto Contador was unable to recover from his crash on stage 17 and his efforts in the Giro which made him unable to match his rivals on the last 2 mountain stages.

In March 2015, Alberto Contador signed a contract extension with his team, Tinkoff, but at the same time announced that 2016 would be his final season in professional cycling.

Alberto Contador competed in his first race of the season at the Volta ao Algarve, finishing third overall and winning the final stage of the race.

Alberto Contador got off to a difficult start to the Tour de France, crashing in the opening stages and losing time to his rivals.

Alberto Contador was in 20th place on the general classification with a deficit of 3 minutes 12 seconds to leader Chris Froome before the ninth stage, where after attempting to make the breakaway at the start of the day, he withdrew from the race, citing a fever which had developed overnight.

Alberto Contador went on to finish fourth at the Vuelta a Espana.

Alberto Contador had trailed by 31 seconds overnight, but had gone clear with Quick-Step Floors rider David de la Cruz and Marc Soler of the Movistar Team; after taking a couple of seconds at an intermediate sprint, Alberto Contador was beaten to the line in Nice by de la Cruz, which cost him four bonus seconds and decided the race in favour of Henao.

Later that month, Alberto Contador finished second overall at the Volta a Catalunya, 63 seconds behind Valverde.

Alberto Contador rode an aggressive race in search of a stage victory, placing fifth overall, winning the combativity award in his final Grand Tour, as well as winning the final mountain stage atop the iconic Alto de l'Angliru after attacking on the penultimate climb of the day.

Alberto Contador was questioned in December 2006 by the magistrate in charge of the Puerto file.

On 28 July 2007, Le Monde, citing what it claimed was an investigation file to which it had access, stated that Alberto Contador's name appeared in several documents found during Operacion Puerto.

On 30 July 2007, German doping expert Werner Franke accused Alberto Contador of having taken drugs in the past and being prescribed a doping regimen by Fuentes, who was connected with Operacion Puerto.

Alberto Contador passed his allegations on to the German authorities the following day.

In September 2010, Alberto Contador revealed that a urine sample he had given on 21 July, a rest day in the Tour de France, had contained traces of clenbuterol.

Alberto Contador has stated, due to the number of other tests he passed and that only a tiny amount of the substance was detected in the one he failed, that food contamination was to blame.

Several people related to the sport defended Alberto Contador saying that there is little benefit from using the drug in the amounts that were discovered and that no one would intentionally take such an easily detectable substance.

Alberto Contador was provisionally suspended from competition, although this had no short-term effect as he had already finished his racing programme for the 2010 season.

Alberto Contador returned to racing in February in the Volta ao Algarve, a race he won in 2009 and 2010.

The UCI and the World Anti-Doping Agency each appealed the RFEC decision independently to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in March 2011, but Alberto Contador remained free to ride until the CAS made its ruling.