Alberto Contador to Retire After 2016
Tour de France winner, doper to leave cycling
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Alberto Contador, two-time Tour de France winner and sanctioned doper, says he will likely retire after the 2016 season.
“Next year will most likely be the last,” Contador told the AP. “I could change my mind if I have a mishap on the Tour like last year, for example, but little else could make me change.”
The Spaniard crashed on rain-slicked pavement in the 10th stage of the 2014 Tour de France and abandoned the race. He later discovered that he’d broken his tibia, an injury that required surgery. “[Contador] was in the shape of his life. This was his Tour,” said Tinkoff-Saxo team boss Bjarne Riis, as reported by the AFP.
Contador was the overall Tour de France winner in 2007 and 2009. He also won the 2010 edition of the race but was later disqualified when he tested positive for the performance-enhancing drug clenbuterol. Contador appealed, claiming he ingested contaminated meat. He received a two-year ban, as decided by the Court for Arbitration for Sport.