Contador to target Giro d'Italia in 2015

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After taking his sixth Grand Tour title at the Vuelta a España earlier this month, Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) has announced that he will target the 2015 Giro d’Italia next season. He made the announcement while at a presentation on Friday in Bormio.

“Waiting for some details, I can announce that my first goal on 2015 will be the Giro d'Italia,” Contador posted on Twitter.

Contador hasn’t ridden the Giro d’Italia since 2011. He won the race, beating Michele Scarponi by more than six minutes, but the result was scratched from his palmarès when he received a retrospective ban after testing positive for Clenbuterol. Contador has ridden the Corsa Rosa on one other occasion, in 2008, where he beat Riccardo Riccò for the overall victory.

Contador was in Bormio for the RHxDue, a cycling climb to Gavia and Mortirolo. “Since we're here in Bormio, at the foot of legendary mountain passes like Gavia, Mortirolo and Stelvio, that I have enjoyed and suffered in the Giro d'Italia, and awaiting for some details such as the route of the race, I have already spoken with [Bjarne Riis] in depth and we have decided that my first goal of the 2015 will be the Giro d'Italia," he said in a press release.

"It's a race that I really like. I love your roads, your people, your food and your races. My starting point for 2015 is the Giro, all the rest will come later," he said in Tuttobiciweb.

The Spaniard is one of only six riders to win all three Grand Tours. Following the Giro d'Italia next year, he announced that he also plans to focus on the Tour de France. Contador explained that his Grand Tour goals are  “... more like a Giro-Tour double than an attempt to make the big three in the same year, which is not in my plans at the moment," he said.