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CONTADOR : PROFILE
Photograph by Liz Kreutz
Born on December 6, 1982, at 24 years old Alberto Contador has already built a handsome list of victories. Having turned professional in 2003 with Manolo Saiz’s Once team, Contador began collecting impressive finishes immediately.
A stage victory in the Tour of Poland, high rankings at Castilla y León and Setmana Catalana (2004), and King of the Mountains in the Vuelta a Aragon (2004) were early steps by a fiery rider who appeared to be unstoppable.
But on May 12, 2004, during the first stage of the Vuelta a Asturias, Contador experienced a bleedout in his brain that led to a crash and nearly ended his life. In his own words,
"It was on the first stage of the Vuelta a Asturias. I was having some headaches a few days before and it felt like a vein was bleeding in my head while I was doing the stage. In fact, the bleeding was so bad that I started having convulsions and fell off the bike, and was lying unconscious on the side of the road.
"Then, 10 days later, I had the same thing at home. Later, they did some medical tests and I underwent surgery at a hospital in Madrid. After six months being off, I start riding again and I made my debut in Australia. The problem seems to be fixed and appears it won't happen again."
Far from being immobilized by severe trauma, Alberto was back in the saddle in 2005, resuming his trajectory of stage wins, top five finishes, points and young rider jerseys.
Again with Saiz’s team in its new incarnation, Liberty Seguros, Contador celebrated his return to form with a win at Adelaide in stage five of the Tour Down Under, the overall win at Setmana Catalana, and his impressive first showing at the Tour de France.
2006 saw the downfall of the Liberty Seguros team. During the scandal-ridden season, Contador was sidelined by bad luck once again. Due to the Operación Puerto affair, he was one of nine riders not allowed to start at the Tour de France.
As Andrew Hood says, in his feature for Velonews: Though he was one of nine riders forced out ahead of the start of the Tour, none other than Dr. Eufemiano Fuentes himself, who said he never worked with Contador, cleared him. A Spanish court later formally cleared him of any link to the doping investigation.
Unfortunately, one month later a crash after crossing the finish line at Stage 5 of the Vuelta a Burgos kept him out of competition until signing with Discovery Channel in January, 2007.
Alberto Contador rode with thrilling ferocity and outstanding courage at Paris-Nice 2007, scorching the pavement and blazing across the final finish line to win the overall title in one of pro cycling’s landmark annual contests.
As he mounted the podium, exchanging his white young rider’s jersey for the maillot jaune, he became only the second Spaniard in history to win that title. His predecessor in that place of honor: Miguel Indurain.
Contador seems destined for great things. The talk in the cycling world is full of excited praise for a young man who has overcome adversity and who is ready now to compete for the highest honors in the sport.
What is Chechu’s prediction for his young teammate? He will be a great champion.
BIRD LOVER
At his home, just south of Madrid, Contador keeps canaries and goldfinches.
When I was a child, I also liked animals. I had birds as I wasn't allowed to have other animals in our house. Now I have a bigger home, I was able to build a little room for them.
Photo Credits: Masthead: Liz Kreutz, 2006. Left column from top: ES.com. Right column from top: all, Graham Watson