Spaniard set for sweet start to new year in Peñalver
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Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank) (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
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Alberto Contador arrives at his CAS hearing with brother Fran and attorneys Adam Lewis and Mike Morgan (Image credit: AFP Photo)
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(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
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Alberto Contador at day 1 of his CAS hearing (Image credit: AFP Photo)
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Alberto Contador was in a class unto himself at the 2011 Giro d'Italia. (Credit: Ashley Gruber) (Image credit: Jered Gruber)
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2011 Giro d'Italia winner Alberto Contador looks ahead to next year (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
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Fearless descenders Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) and Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank Sungard) tried to put time into their GC rivals. (Image credit: Sirotti)
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Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) and Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank Sungard) were caught just before the finish line and sprint it out with their GC rivals in Pinerolo. (Image credit: Sirotti)
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Frank Schleck follows Alberto Contador on the climb (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
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A defeated Alberto Contador lost 3:50 on Andy Schleck. (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
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There's no denying that Alberto Contador suffered on the Alpe d'Huez. (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
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Though short of his best, Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-SunGard) moved up to 5th overall. (Image credit: Sirotti)
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Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) descends to Gap behind Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank Sungard) and Cadel Evans (BMC). (Image credit: Sirotti)
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Marianne Vos, winner of the Giro Donne, and Giro d'Italia champion Alberto Contador met after the Tour de France stage 10 (Image credit: Alberto Contador)
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Cadel Evans, Alberto Contador and Samuel Sanchez escaped the peloton on the Col de Manse. (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
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Giro champion Alberto Contador with his winner's trophy. (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
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Cadel Evans (BMC) edges Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank Sungard) to win stage four. (Image credit: AFP)
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Giro winner Alberto Contador shows off his trophy in front of Milan's stunning Duomo. (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
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Giro champion Alberto Contador during the playing of Spain's national anthem. (Image credit: Sirotti)
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2011 Giro d'Italia champion Alberto Contador and third-place Vincenzo Nibali embrace on the podium. (Image credit: Sirotti)
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Paolo Tiralongo (Astana) looks back at Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-SunGard) on crossing line. (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
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Paolo Tiralongo (Astana) thanks his former team leader Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-SunGard) for his gesture at the end of stage 19. (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
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2011 Giro d'Italia champion Alberto Contador hoists aloft the winner's trophy in Milan. (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
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2011 Giro d'Italia winner Alberto Contador and world champion Mark Cavendish (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
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Andy Schleck keeps an eye on Alberto Contador (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
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Ivan Basso and Alberto Contador (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
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Another hard day at the office for Alberto Contador as the Spaniard crashed during the Tour's ninth stage. (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
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Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank) out of the saddle (Image credit: Sirotti)
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Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank) didn't give in without a fight (Image credit: Sirotti)
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Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank) on crossing the line (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
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Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank) signs in (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
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Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank) leaves his rivals behind (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
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Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank) check on Michele Scarponi (Lampre) (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
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Michele Scarponi (Lampre) tried to put Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank) under pressure (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank) is set to take part in one of the more unusual engagements of his career in the New Year when he will receive his own weight in honey at a ceremony in the small town of Peñalver, to the east of Madrid. The town’s mayor,
José Ángel Parra, has announced that Contador will receive the award in the town’s central square on January 7.
Adding to the bizarreness of the ceremony, Contador will be weighed with the six bikes on which he won his grand tour titles. According to the mayor, Contador, who tips the scales at 60kg, is much lighter than those usually honored with the award. Consequently, said the mayor, “as an exception it has been decided to weigh the cyclist with the six bikes on which he achieved his greatest victories because we don’t want to be seen as being stingy.”
Speaking at a press conference in the honey-producing centre, the mayor explained that Contador will be weighed using an ancient set of scales. The Saxo Bank rider and his bikes will be held tight by two people on one side while kilos of honey are added to the other side until the two sides are evenly balanced.
Past recipients of the award include Camilo José Cela, winner of the Nobel Prize for literature, and Spanish football’s World Cup-winning coach Vicente del Bosque.
Mayor Parra reminded those at the press conference that Cela and Del Bosque were among those who have gone to achieve great things in the wake of receiving the award. “This makes me believe that the honey acts as some kind of ‘talisman’ for them and it could be that Contador’s fourth Tour win will soon come his way,” said the mayor.
Following the ceremony, which is due to take place at 12.30 in the afternoon in Peñalver’s Plaza de España, a huge paella will be made for those present. However, the mayor added that it is unlikely that Contador will try the dish “because he is wary of the food he’s given nowadays”.
Peter Cossins has written about professional cycling since 1993 and is a contributing editor to Procycling. He is the author of The Monuments: The Grit and the Glory of Cycling's Greatest One-Day Races (Bloomsbury, March 2014) and has translated Christophe Bassons' autobiography, A Clean Break (Bloomsbury, July 2014).
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