Spaniard sensitive to perception of his signature gesture
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Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) in the maglia rosa, doing his pistolero salute(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) fires the pistol on the podium(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
'El Pistolero' Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff) fires again in the 2012 Vuelta a Espana(Image credit: Unipublic)
Alberto Contador (Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank) celebrates with his Pistolero salute(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Contador takes aim with his pistolero salute as he won stage three.(Image credit: Rafael Gómez Alonso)
Alberto Contador (TInkoff-Saxo) has long insisted that his signature 'pistolero' victory salute has nothing to do with gunfire, but after terrorists shot hundreds of people in Paris at seven different sites on November 13, he understands that the gesture might not be welcome come next year's Tour de France.
When asked if he would reconsider his salute by Huffington Post UK, Contador said, "The significance of the celebration is not about shooting or violence, it's just to show the people my victory, but if some people could be offended by it then I have no problem not doing it."
Speaking at the Rouleur Classic Road Cycling exhibition in London, Contador sympathised with the people of France, saying that his country had suffered a similar incident. "This is a tragedy that has no contact with sport. Cycling is another thing. We suffered something similar in Spain with the March 11 attacks and some people very close to me suffered from that personally."
On March 11, 2004, a coordinated bomb attack on Madrid's commuter train system killed 191 people and injured nearly 2,000.
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