Spaniard finishes fifth overall at the Vuelta a Espana in his final race
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Alberto Contador and his Trek-Segafredo teammates wave goodbye from the Vuelta(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Alberto Contador celebrating his 2014 Vuelta win in Santiago de Compostela(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Alberto Contador and Chris Froome became rivals at the Tour and Vuelta. Alberto Contador got the better of Briton at the 2014 Vuelta(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
'Pistolero' at the 2014 Vuelta(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Alejandro Valverde, Alberto Contador and Joaquim Rodríguez often did battle at the Vuelta(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Alberto Contador trying out a new look(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Team boss Bjarne Riis helps Alberto Contador after his crash at the 2014 Tour(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Alberto Contador on the pave? The Spaniard during a recon for the 2014 Tour(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Alberto Contador enjoyed success at Pais Vasco with four overall wins(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Alberto Contador enjoyed success in Italy also winning Tirreno-Adriatico(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Alberto Contador gets the better of Nairo Quintana(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Alberto Contador rode several editions of the Worlds for Spain(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Chris Froome and Alberto Contador put aside their rivalry for a chat(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Alberto Contador tried out a new celebration style in San Luis(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
The bloodied and bandaged leg of Alberto Contador that ended his 2014 Tour(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Alberto Contador made it to the podium despite dislocating his shoulder at the 2015 Giro. He would go on to win the overall(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Alberto Contador brings down the curtain on his career in Madrid(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Alberto Contador launching his final mountain attack for the win at Angliru. The 68th and final win of his career(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Alberto Contador (Trek-Segafredo) on the podium for one final time at the Tour de July(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
The Vuelta al Pais Vasco was the final podium result of Alberto Contador's career in 2017(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Alberto Contador fights through the pain after crashing on stage 1 of the Tour de France in 2016(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Alberto Contador and Peter Sagan were teammates on Tinkoff at the 2016 Tour(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Alberto Contador's final win on French soil came at the 2016 Criterium du Dauphiné prologue(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Alberto Contador's last GC win was the 2016 Vuelta al Pais Vasco(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Alberto Contador doing what he did best, attacking in the mountains(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Alberto Contador kissed many a leader's jersey throughout his career(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Alberto Contador ascending the Colle Delle Finestre on his way to sealing the Giro title in 2015(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Alberto Contador celebrating his Grand Tours in his hometown of Pinto(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Alberto Contador in pink after his 2015 Giro win(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Perhaps a new profession for Alberto Contador(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Milano-Torino was the sole one-day win of Alberto Contador's career(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Alberto Contador celebrating another Vuelta victory(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Alberto Contador celebrating his first Vuelta win and second Grand Tour win of 2008 after his Giro success. Chris Froome in 2016 would be the next rider to win two Grand Tours in the same season(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Alberto Contador celebrating his first Grand Tour stage win in a leader's jersey(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Alberto Contador fired off his Pistolero salute plenty of times in 2008(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Alberto Contador rode the Olympics just once, in 2008(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
A first Giro win for Alberto 'Pistolero' Contador in 2008 and first of two Grand Tour wins for the season(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Alberto Contador during the tough Plan de Corones Giro time trial in 2008(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Alberto Contador was a regular face at the end of season Amstel Curaçao Race(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Alberto Contador was keen to celebrate his first Tour win in 2007(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Alberto Contador kisses the trophy after the five of his Gand Tour wins in 2007(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
A first stage win for Alberto Contador and first appearance of the Pistolero salute at the French Grand Tour(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
The 2007 Paris - Nice was the first major win of Alberto Contador's career(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
An emotion win at the 2006 Tour de Romandie for Alberto Contador(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Alberto Contador's first and only win outside of Europe came at the Tour Down Under with Liberty Seguros(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Alberto Contador fires off his 'Pistolero' salute at the 2009 Tour(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
A second Tour title for Alberto Contador in 2009 and fourth straight Tour win(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
The day Alberto Contador blew the 2012 Vuelta race to pieces on the road to Fuente De(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Alberto Contador celebrates his Vuelta winning move to Fuete De in 2012(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Alberto Contador celebrating the 2011 Giro. A race that he would later be stripped of(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
With a Giro in the bag, Alberto Contador dreams of more victory(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Alberto Contador celebrating the 2010 Tour. A race he would also be stripped of(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Alberto Contador on overall Tour podium for the final time in his career(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Alberto Contador and Andy Schleck were major rivals at the 2010 Tour with Contador coming out on top but Schleck going down as the winner (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Alberto Contador trying out for Spain during the 2010 Tour rest day. He would claim the Tour title and Spain the World Cup that summer(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Alberto Contador was also a national time trial champion(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Alberto Contador came close to Fleche Wallonne victory in 2010(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Alberto Contador wearing his 'Pistolero' cap(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Alberto Contador got the better of Astana teammate Lance Armstrong in 2009(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Johan Bruyneel was a key DS throughout Alberto Contador's career(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Alberto Contado in his debut season as a professional with ONCE in 2003(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
On Sunday evening in Madrid, Alberto Contador brought down the curtains on his career. The 34-year-old enjoyed one final victory the previous stage atop the Angliru before being feted in the Spanish capital. Even dropping one position to fifth overall couldn't dampen the occasion for the seven time Grand Tour winner. At the conclusion of the race, Contador and his Trek-Segafredo teammates were invited onto the podium to wave farewell.
With the general classification rider of his generation riding off into retirement, Cyclingnews has looked through the archives for a retrospective gallery of Contador's career.
Click or swipe through the gallery for images of Contador's career from his debut season with ONCE through his Tour winning years to his final farewell in Madrid.
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