Alberto Contador

Alberto Contador Velasco (born 6 December 1982) is a Spanish former professional cyclist.

Contador was born on 6 December 1982 in Pinto in the Community of Madrid, the third of four children.

He has an older brother and sister and a younger brother, who has cerebral palsy.

Having previously taken part in other sports, such as football and athletics, Contador discovered cycling at the age of 14 thanks to his elder brother Francisco Javier.

When Contador was 15, he began to compete in races at the amateur level in Spain, joining the Real Velo Club Portillo from Madrid.

Although he got no victories that year or the next, he demonstrated great qualities and was soon nicknamed Pantani (after Marco Pantani, regarded as one of the best climbers of all time) for his climbing skills.

In 2000, he experienced his first victories, winning several mountains classification prizes from prominent events on the Spanish amateur cycling calendar.

He dropped out of school at the age of 16 without having finished his Bachillerato and signed with Iberdrola–Loinaz, a youth team run by Manolo Saiz, manager of the professional team.

In 2001, he won the under-23 race at the Spanish National Time Trial Championships.

Contador lives with his wife Macarena in the city of Pinto when not competing.

He has a fascination for birds, keeping personally bred canaries and goldfinches at home.

Contador turned professional in 2003 for.

In his first year as a professional he won the eighth stage of the Tour de Pologne, an individual time trial.

He deliberately let himself fall back on the morning's road stage and saved energy to deliver the winning effort in the time trial in the afternoon.

During the first stage of the 2004 Vuelta a Asturias he started to feel unwell, and after 40 km he fell and went into convulsions.

He had been suffering from headaches for several days beforehand and was diagnosed with a cerebral cavernoma, a congenital vascular disorder, for which he underwent risky surgery and a recovery to get back on his bike.

As a result of the surgery, he has a scar that runs from one ear to the other over the top of his head.

Contador started to train again at the end of November 2004 and eight months after the surgery he won the fifth stage of the 2005 Tour Down Under racing for, as the team previously known as ONCE had become.

He subsequently described this win as the greatest of his career.

He went on to win the third stage and the overall classification of the Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme, thus winning his first stage race as a professional.

He also won an individual time trial during the Tour of the Basque Country, where he finished third, and the fourth stage of the Tour de Romandie, where he finished fourth overall.

In 2006, he won stages at the Tour de Romandie and Tour de Suisse in preparation for the Tour de France.

Prior to the start of the race he was implicated along with several teammates in the Operación Puerto doping case by the Spanish authorities, and the team was not able to start.

He was later cleared by the Union Cycliste Internationale, cycling's governing body.

Contador returned to racing in the Vuelta a Burgos but he crashed after finishing fifth in stage 4, when he was riding back down to the team bus, and briefly lost consciousness.

He is one of the most successful riders of his era, winning the Tour de France twice (2007, 2009), the Giro d'Italia twice (2008, 2015), and the Vuelta a España three times (2008, 2012, 2014).

He is one of only seven riders to have won all three Grand Tours of cycling, and one of only two riders to have won all three more than once.

He has also won the Vélo d'Or a record 4 times.

He was regarded as the natural successor of Lance Armstrong and won the 2007 Tour de France with the team.

Between 2007 and 2011 he won six consecutive Grand Tours that he entered.

After having been implicated in the Operación Puerto doping case, Contador was without a professional contract until mid-January 2007, when he signed with.

Contador's first major professional victory came with Paris–Nice, which he won on the race's final stage.

effectively wore down the remnants of the race leader Davide Rebellin's team, allowing Contador to launch an attack on the final climb.

During his time at the Astana team, he won the 2008 Giro d'Italia, the 2008 Vuelta a España and the 2009 Tour de France.

This included winning the 2010 Tour de France with Astana, although it later emerged that he had tested positive for clenbuterol during the race.

After a long battle in court, he was suspended by the Court of Arbitration for Sport and stripped of his 2010 Tour and 2011 Giro wins.

Contador was known as an attacking rider who excelled as a climber, and on his best days was also an excellent time-trialist.

He was also known for being able to turn races around to his favour, most notably during the Fuente Dé stage at the 2012 Vuelta a España.

Following his return from suspension, he won the Vuelta twice and the Giro once more.

On the penultimate day of his career, he won a stage victory at the mountaintop finish of the Alto de l'Angliru.