Alberto Contador
DOB: 06/12/1982 (31 Years Old)
Nationality: Spanish
Race History:
TdF - 1st (2007, 2009)
Vuelta - 1st (2008, 2012)
Giro - 1st (2008)
22
Background:
Very few riders have or ever will have a career quite exciting as that of Alberto Contador. The Spaniard first burst onto the scene in 2007 when he claimed his first grand tour victory and the most coveted prize in the sport, le maillot jaune. In the subsequent years since, we’ve seen a full on feud between himself and Lance Armstrong, multiple grand tour wins, a doping suspension and most recently, a comeback.
It’s fair to say that things didn't quite go to plan for Tinkoff-Saxo and Alberto Contador last time round, with team owner Oleg Tinkoff launching an online attack on his star rider over twitter after some indifferent performances from Contador, where he seemed a shadow of his post doping self. Where Contador could once glide up climbs with relative ease and wave goodbye to his challengers as he disappeared off into the distance, he now looked far more human and gritted his teeth and was found wanting several times.
However, this year Contador has displayed the kind of form that many people believe could see him win back the yellow jersey that has been out of his possession since 2009. Contador has already won the Tour of the Basque Country with some dominant performances in the mountains, whilst looking equally as strong on the TT bike. He also delivered the ride of the season to date to win Tirenno-Adriatico when he attacked alone on the penultimate climb of the queen stage to finish over a minute up on his rivals. Most recently however, was the Criterium du Dauphine, where Contador attacked Froome on the penultimate stage and for the first time in recent years - appeared to crack the Team Sky rider.
Strengths
Quite simply, Contadors strength lies in his climbing ability. His bobbing, out of the saddles style is not on for the purists but its beautifully effective in its own right. Contadors constant changes of tempo may turn out to be a huge weapon for the Spaniard as he attempts to wreak havoc on the mountain stages.
With Contador seemingly having the legs this year, his history of ‘out-foxing’ opponents (Armstorng in ’09, Schleck in ’10 and Rodriguez in ’12) may also prove crucial as he looks to gain every advantage possible in his pursuit of glory.
One final advantage for Contador is found in having Roman Kreuziger as his right hand man.