Tinkoff leader steps up his comeback after quitting the Tour de France
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Tinkoff's Alberto Contador at the finish of stage 5.(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Alberto Contador (Tinkoff) and Chris Froome (Team Sky)
After crashing twice in the opening two days, Alberto Contador says so long to the 2016 Tour de France during stage 9.
Alberto Contador (Tinkoff) in the team car after abandoning the Tour de France
Chris Froome (Sky) and Alberto Contador (Tinkoff)
Alberto Contador (Tinkoff) is provisionally down to ride the Clasica Ciclista San Sebastian one-day race on July 30 as he steps up his return from injury and his build up towards the Vuelta a Espana.
The Spaniard abandoned the Tour de France on the stage to Arcalis earlier this month after suffering from two crashes in the opening two days. He underwent a series of medical tests in Spain and began to train at home in Lugano for the second half of the season after taking some time to recover from his injuries. He ruled out competing in the Olympic Games but is now set to target the Vuelta a Espana.
The only question is whether Contador races before the start of the Spanish Grand Tour, which starts on August 20. A spokesperson for Contador confirmed that his main objective is the Vuelta – a race he has won three times and every time he has started.
Contador is provisionally down to ride Clasica Ciclista San Sebastian before then looking to race the Vuelta a Burgos - a five-day race that runs from August 2-6.
"First of all he's concentrating on his training but he's looking to come back for San Sebastian. He may do Burgos but he will not be doing it for the win, it would just be about preparing for the Vuelta," his spokesperson told Cyclingnews.
"At the moment he's feeling good in training so we'll have to see. A lot depends on how the sensations are in his training."
"The Vuelta is the real objective and that's the same with or without the build-up races. If everything goes well then he will be at San Sebastian first."
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Daniel Benson was the Editor in Chief at Cyclingnews.com between 2008 and 2022. Based in the UK, he joined the Cyclingnews team in 2008 as the site's first UK-based Managing Editor. In that time, he reported on over a dozen editions of the Tour de France, several World Championships, the Tour Down Under, Spring Classics, and the London 2012 Olympic Games. With the help of the excellent editorial team, he ran the coverage on Cyclingnews and has interviewed leading figures in the sport including UCI Presidents and Tour de France winners.
