Alberto Contador had a stellar 2008 season and at 25 he knows there is still a lot to accomplish....
Spain's Alberto Contador, 25, is out for more in 2009 (Image credit: AFP)
Alberto Contador had a stellar 2008 season and at 25 he knows there is still a lot to accomplish. The Spaniard, winner of this year's Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a España, indicated his desire to improve in a new era of cycling.
"You think that I can continue to win all the Grand Tours that I dispute? I am young, and I've already accomplished a lot but my motivation is intact. I know that I also have the chance to signal a new period in cycling. To do this will be hard, but just thinking of doing it is an enormous challenge that I like," he said to La Gazzetta dello Sport.
In addition to winning two Grand Tours in 2008, Team Astana's Contador won two stages and the overall of Vuelta a Castilla y Leon, two stages and the overall of País Vasco, and two stages at the Vuelta a España.
Modestly, Contador would not judge himself as the best cyclist of 2008. "But I look at what I did: Giro, Vuelta – ten victories in total. For a rider of my characteristics, with the programme that I had, it was the best possible. I would not change my year with any other rider."
The world first took note of him in 2007 with his overall wins in Paris-Nice and the Tour de France. He is only one of five cyclists – with Belgian Eddy Merckx, Italian Felice Gimondi and Frenchmen Bernard Hinault and Jacques Anquetil – to ever win all three Grand Tours, but he wants to improve in time trailling and the Spring Classics.
"I made the difference because I can recuperate well and because of my mentality. With respect to the other climbers I go well in the crono. However, in the climbs and against the watch I can do better.
"What other races would I like to win? The Flèche Wallonne, climb on the Mur de Huy is so hard. Liège-Bastogne-Liège, the most complicated of the Classics. The Worlds, if they have an edition for climbers like the 1995 edition in Duitama, Colombia."
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Contador will focus on the Tour de France in 2009 and he will not race the Giro d'Italia. His new teammate, Lance Armstrong, will represent Astana at the Giro d'Italia.
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