Support road.cc

Like this site? Help us to make it better.

news

Alberto Contador to skip defence of Giro title to focus on 2012 Tour de France

Riis says Spaniard's best years ahead of him, but CAS appeal hearing still casts a shadow...

Alberto Contador has revealed that he does not plan to defend his Giro d’Italia title next year, and will instead focus on trying to win the Tour de France for the fourth time – although his taking part in any race next year does of course depend on the outcome of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) hearing regarding his positive test for clenbuterol at last year’s Tour.

Speaking to the Danish news agency Ritzau, Contador, who struggled during last month’s Tour, finishing fifth overall, 3 minutes 57 seconds down on winer Cadel Evans, insisted that his powerhouse performance in the Giro had taken its toll and that the blame for his lacklustre performance in France did not lie with his team.

“After the Tour, I read in the newspapers that the team was not good enough, but I do not understand that,” he said. “The team works hard and always gives 100 per cent for me. I am very happy for the team's efforts during the Tour. So I need not say it again.”

Explaining his decision not to race in next year’s Giro, despite it starting in Henning, the Danish town that produced Saxo Bank-Sungard owner and manager Bjarne Riis, Contador said: “When I participate in races, it's hard for me not to run for the win.

“It is therefore better to train during next year's Giro,” he added, an admission that taking part in the Italian Grand Tour had taken its toll and that he had found it impossible to fully recover for the Tour de France, in which he also struggled with a knee injury.

However, he insisted, “Our goal is clear for next year. It is to win the Tour.”

Riis, who said last year when he signed Contador from Astana that he believed Contador was capable of winning all three Grand Tours in the same season, said that at 28 years of age, the best stage of Contador’s career was yet to come.

“The next four or five years should Alberto garden its best years, so I have not seen the best of him yet,” he maintained.

“This year has been instructive,” continued Riis. “I have analyzed him much this year and we've talked a lot about what we can improve,” although he did not expand on what that might mean, adding only, “it's all about diet and better work on the mental plane.”

Contador is contracted to Saxo Bank-SunGard until the end of next season, although ahead of that there is his long-awaited appearance at CAS for the much-delayed appeal by the UCI and World Anti-doping Agency into the decision of the Spanish cycling federation, the RFEC, earlier this year to clear him following that positive test in the 2010 Tour, which he went on to win.

Contador has always maintained that the presence of clenbuterol in his system was due to his having eaten a contaminated steak, but the fact remains that there is no minimum threshold in relation to the substance.

The RFEC had initially said that it planned to ban the rider for one year, and its subsequent about-turn has been attributed by some to undue political influence after high-profile figures including the Spanish prime minister made public statements of support for Contador.
 

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

Add new comment

4 comments

Avatar
captain_slog | 13 years ago
0 likes

“The next four or five years should Alberto garden its best years."

Did you Babelfish that from Danish? Or is he switching careers and entering the Chelsea Flower Show instead?

Avatar
Gkam84 | 13 years ago
0 likes

This reeks of behind the scenes information and a cover up, i think his case is going to just be a sham and he'll get off with it if he's planning ahead already

Avatar
Paulo replied to Gkam84 | 13 years ago
0 likes

@Gkam84 Should he not make any plans? and assume that he will definately be suspended for 2 years?
That would be kinda stupid don't you think? & whatever you might think about Contador & Riis niether of them are stupid

Avatar
Gkam84 replied to Paulo | 13 years ago
0 likes
Paulo wrote:

@Gkam84 Should he not make any plans? and assume that he will definately be suspended for 2 years?
That would be kinda stupid don't you think? & whatever you might think about Contador & Riis niether of them are stupid

No not at all, he's quite right to be making plans, but he shouldn't really be publishing them just now until after the case has been heard

Latest Comments