Alberto Contador Spanish professional road cyclist Date of Birth: 06.12.1982 Country: Spain

1. Biography of Alberto Contador
2. Early Battles and Triumphs
3. Rise to Prominence
4. Doping Controversy
5. Later Career and Disqualification

Biography of Alberto Contador

Alberto Contador is a Spanish professional road racing cyclist, currently riding for the Saxo Bank-SunGard team. He is a two-time winner of the Tour de France (2007 and 2009), a winner of the Giro d'Italia (2008), and a winner of the Vuelta a España (2008). Contador also won the Tour de France in 2010 and the Giro d'Italia in 2011, but these titles were later stripped from him due to doping violations. He is nicknamed El Pistolero.

Early Battles and Triumphs

Contador's first major victory came on the 5th stage of the Tour Down Under in 2005, following his recovery from a life-threatening blood clot in his brain. He had undergone a dangerous operation and a lengthy and painful recovery. The blood clot was discovered after he fell and experienced convulsions during the first stage of the Vuelta a Asturias in 2004. He had been suffering from headaches for several days prior. Following the breakup of the Liberty Seguros-Würth team, Contador was without a team until mid-January 2007 when he signed a contract with the Discovery Channel team.

Rise to Prominence

Contador's first major victory came in the Paris-Nice race in 2007 when he won the final stage in an exciting finish. He attacked on the last climb and managed to hold off the chasing pack on the descent, securing the stage win and the overall race victory. In the 2007 Tour de France, Contador won the 14th stage with a finish on Plateau-de-Beille and moved into second place in the general classification behind Michael Rasmussen. After Rasmussen was removed from the race after the 17th stage, Contador took over the lead and donned the yellow jersey. During the 19th stage, an individual time trial, he held on to the yellow jersey and won his first Tour de France. After the announcement of the dissolution of the Discovery Channel team, Contador announced on October 23, 2007, that he would be joining the Astana team in 2008.

Doping Controversy

In February 2008, the organizers of the Tour de France announced that Astana would not be allowed to participate in any of their races in 2008. However, just a week before the race, the Astana team received an invitation to the Giro d'Italia. Despite the lack of preparation, Contador managed to win the race.

Later Career and Disqualification

Contador participated in the road race and individual time trial at the Olympic Games. He did not finish the road race but finished fourth in the time trial. In the Vuelta a España, he was considered the top contender for victory. He won the 13th stage with a finish on Angliru, taking the lead in the race, and repeated his success by winning the 14th stage. His overall victory in the Vuelta made Contador the fifth cyclist to win all three Grand Tours.

In 2010, Contador once again won the Paris-Nice and the Tour de France. On September 29, it was announced that a small amount of clenbuterol was found in his doping sample from July 21. The court hearing for Contador's case was repeatedly postponed, with the latest date set for November 2011. Since 2011, Alberto Contador has been riding for Team Saxo Bank. In that season, he won the Giro d'Italia for the second time.

On February 6, 2012, Contador was disqualified for two years and stripped of his titles as the winner of the Tour de France in 2010 and the Giro d'Italia in 2011, following a decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sport regarding the clenbuterol case.