Alberto Contador, one of the most distinguished riders in the history of professional cycling, retired at the end of the 2017 season after an outstanding career seeing him winning all three grand tours, Giro d’Italia, Tour de France and Vuelta a España, multiple times.
Contador always wanted to bow out at the top. Here, he tells the story of the day he realized it was time to end his professional career.
As I was getting ready for the Tour de France in 2017, I was absolutely flying on the climbs. My numbers were incredible. Unfortunately, I crashed on the queen stage of the race, not once but twice. The first time was when Ag2r pulled full gas on a descend, I hurt my collarbone, but I managed to get back up and come back to the group. Soon after though, I touched bikes with Nairo Quintana and I crashed again.
I came back once more and I took on the following climb with the adrenaline rushing through my body. After the descent, we hit a part of nearly 50 km of flat terrain before starting on Mont du Chat, the final climb of the day.
In these 50 km of flat, the adrenaline rush decreased significantly and even though I remembered to eat and drink, the feelings I experienced on the last climb were similar to a hunger-flat.
The adrenaline high had been so intense after the crash and when it completely plummeted afterwards, I was just empty. Therefore, when we started on the Mont du Chat, I simply didn’t have any energy left in the body and I lost four minutes to the other favorites.
The day after, all the comments started; “Alberto is old”, “Alberto is not the same anymore” etc. etc.
The thing is, before that Tour, I had produced the best numbers of my life. The only problem was that I was 34 years old… Had I been 24 at the time, people would have just said “oh, it’s a shame Alberto crashed, but that’s why he didn’t reach his best level”. However, at age 34, it’s all “oh, Alberto is too old”. That’s when I knew.
On the very next day, the first rest day of the Tour, I talked with my team manager Luca Guercilena and told him: “Luca, I’m not signing a new contract”. At that moment, I had a new deal on the table but I didn’t sign it. Instead, I told Luca that I would now focus on the Vuelta and then end my professional career.
I always wanted to finish at the highest level and I think I did so in the Vuelta that year. In fact, my numbers were actually some of the best ones of my career. My legs felt great and I attacked almost every day. If you want to retire at the top, you need to stop while you’re still young. That’s why I decided to stop after that Vuelta.
” Right now, I do feel that I could return to the peloton”
To be honest, right now, I do feel that I could return to the peloton. However, after 15 years as a professional, giving my all every single day, living 100 % as a pro rider, I also want to enjoy myself and do other things in life. Many of these things still have to do with cycling but it’s nice to have other things in life as well.
One thing that I’m very focused on is the Kometa-Xstra team. The plan is to take the step up to Pro-Conti next year and why not WorldTour later on? Ivan Basso, my brother Fran and myself are working hard with our sponsors to be able to create the right set-up, allowing us to grow as a team.
I also have my new bike brand that I’m very invested in. It might even be a possibility having the new bike brand being the sponsor of the team in the future. Right now, it’s hard to say but maybe in 10 years’ time, why not? Let’s see what the future brings…
Tags: Alberto Contador, Kometa-Xstra, tour de france, Vuelta a España Last modified: Mar 18, 2020
