Alberto Contador
 | This article documents a current event. Information may change rapidly as the event progresses, and initial news reports may be unreliable. The latest updates to this article may not reflect the most current information. (July 2007) |
| |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Alberto Contador Velasco |
| Nickname | The Accountant |
| Height | 1.76 m (5 ft 9+1⁄2 in) |
| Weight | [undue weight? – discuss] |
| Team information | |
| Current team | Discovery Channel |
| Discipline | Road |
| Role | Rider |
| Rider type | Climbing specialist |
| Major wins | |
 Tour de France (2007)Paris-Nice (2007) Setmana Catalana (2005) Vuelta a Castilla y León (2007) | |
Alberto Contador Velasco (born 6 December 1982 in Madrid, Spain) is a professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team and winner of the 2007 Tour de France. While he competes for the overall titles, he is considered a climbing specialist.
Career
An early career highlight is his Stage 5 victory in the 2005 Tour Down Under, his first win after overcoming a massive blood clot in his brain, for which he underwent a risky surgery and a long, painful road to recovery to get back on his bike. The blood clot was discovered after he crashed and went into convulsions during the first stage of the 2004 Vuelta a Asturias. He suffered headaches for several days before the first stage.
Following the demise of the Manolo Saiz–run Liberty Seguros-Würth team, Contador was without a professional contract until mid-January 2007, when he signed with Discovery Channel under a cloud of suspicion over the Operación Puerto doping case.
Contador's first major pro 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.
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 after Judge Antonio Serrano dropped the case against all suspects, when he stated that he was not sure Spanish health laws had been breached. 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 Puerto doctor Fuentes. [1] [2]
Major achievements
- 2003 – ONCE-Eroski
- Stage 8, Tour de Pologne
- 4th Overall, Vuelta a Castilla y León
- 2004 – Liberty Seguros
- Mountains Classification, Vuelta a Aragon
- 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
- 1st Overall, Vuelta a Castilla y León
- 1st Combination classification, Vuelta a Castilla y León
- 1st Spanish rider classification, Vuelta a Castilla y León
- Stage 4, Vuelta a Castilla y León
- 1st Overall, Paris-Nice
- 1st Young rider classification, Paris-Nice
- Stage 4, Paris-Nice
- Stage 7, Paris-Nice
- Stage 4, Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana
Tour de France General Classification leader Stage 18 - Stage 20- 1st, Stage 14 Tour de France
Tour de France Young General Classification leader Stage 9 - Stage 20- 1st Overall, Tour de France
References
- ^ "'Zege Contador grootste zwendel' (Victory Contador major scam)" (in Dutch). ANP. July 30, 2007. Retrieved 2007-07-30.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ ""Das größte Ding aller Zeiten"(The greatest thing of all times)" (in German). ZDF. July 30, 2007. Retrieved 2007-07-30.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help)
External links
