Alberto Contador has surgery on old wrist injury

Retirement has given Alberto Contador plenty of time to do things he was unable to do as a professional rider. Without needing to worry about the forthcoming season, Contador has been able to undergo surgery on an injury that has been troubling him for some time.

"After a long time with pain, I had to go through the workshop. In a short time, like new!" he wrote on Instagram with a photo of himself with bandages on and his arm in a sling.

The former Tour de France winner went under the knife in Madrid earlier this week to reconstruct a tendon in his right wrist. The injury has been an issue for over a year after a crash during the 2016 Vuelta a España. Contador's surgery was done by Dr Pedro Delgado (not the former professional cyclist Pedro Delgado) and took around two hours. According to reports in the Spanish press, it won't be long before Contador is fully recovered.

Contador, who recently turned 35, retired this season after a 15-year professional career. His final competitive race was the Vuelta a España in September, where he won the final mountain stage on the Alto de l'Angliru. It wasn't his final appearance on the bike as he headed to the Far East to ride the Japan Cup Criterium and ASO's Shanghai Criterium.

During his career, Contador officially won seven Grand Tours after two – the 2010 Tour de France and 2011 Giro d'Italia – were stripped from his palmares after he tested positive for clenbuterol in 2010. He is one of six cyclists to have won all three Grand Tours throughout his career, with Vincenzo Nibali the only active rider to hold that honour.

In his retirement, Contador will keep in touch with cycling with his Polartec-Kometa Continental team, which will act as a development squad for Trek-Segafredo. They recently met in Tucson, Arizona for a training camp.