Alberto Contador exclusive: My only intention is to win

Immediately on his return from a ban for doping Alberto Contador delivered a searing win in the Vuelta a España thanks to a devastating ambush. El Pistolero is back with a vengeance… Or is he? As Procycling discovers, Contador envies the lower pressure on those less successful, has wanted to quit the sport altogether and, despite winning it twice, refuses to put the Tour de France on a pedestal. He may not even race it next year. Yet ambition still burns brightly for the Madrileño: “If I go to a race, my only intention is to win it,” is how he puts it. But where, exactly, will that ambition take him now?

Alasdair Fotheringham

Alasdair Fotheringham has been reporting on cycling since 1991. He has covered every Tour de France since 1992 bar one, as well as numerous other bike races of all shapes and sizes, ranging from the Olympic Games in 2008 to the now sadly defunct Subida a Urkiola hill climb in Spain. As well as working for Cyclingnews, he has also written for The IndependentThe GuardianProCycling, The Express and Reuters.