All those who saw, live or through television, the penultimate stage of the last turn will remember forever.
It was much more than the last battle of Alberto Contador before leaving professional cycling, much more than the last and agonized effort of a tireless battalist for victory, even with everything against.
That last sacrifice of accountant in the Angliru was the indelible seal for a legendary trajectory, of which they never stop enlarging despite the fact that the protagonist has been retired for years.
The best have the power to transcend the circumstances. That is why it is unlikely that no one remembers, in a few years, if there were 20 who distanced him from the podium after imposing himself in one of the toughest stages of the international circuit.
The details will blur, the epic will remain. Fifteen years after his debut, the Madrid is already a chair of honor in the aristocratic hall of the best cyclists of all time, and we would have many more, but we are going to give you 5 reasons why Alberto Contador can be considered one of the most prominent runners in history.
For his record
The 2008 and 2015 Italian turn, the Tour of France of 2007 and 2009, as well as the return to Spain of 2008, 2012 and 2014 be named. And they should be enough to lock accountant to the place he deserves in the history of cycling.
But his triumph history does not end there, much less. They complete their prestigious trajectory 8 stage victories in those three great laps, the return to the Basque Country of 2008, 2009, 2014 and 2016, the Milan-Turin of 2012 and the 2014 Tyrrhenian-Adriatic.
Adorns all this with the victory in the UCI Word Ranking and with 4 elections such as
Gold bike to the best cyclist of the year. To this we must add that you can boast of being
The only Spanish cyclist who has gained turn, tour and back, something that places it at the height of superhombres such as Merckx, Hinault, Anquetil, Gimondi and Nibali.
Because he took the pulse to the tour from the first day
Accountant was planted in the tour as a debutant in the 2005 edition, the year of his return to professionalism after his serious surgical intervention.
It was a brave bet for him and for those who bet on him. Enrolled in the ranks of Liberty Seguros-Würth and with just 22 years, he was the second best young man in the race.
And so much took the pulse to the competition that in 2007, in his second participation, he already crowned in Paris.
He did not win in his first appearance, such as the legendary Eddy Merckx or Bernard Hinault, but his merit is unquestionable. Miguel Indurain, for example, took 4 years to listen to the Spanish anthem dressed in yellow.
Because not even a doping sanction could with him
February 2012 only brought bad news for Alberto Contador, who was forced to assume the two -year sanction of the TAS (Deportivo Arbitration Court) for positive for Clembuterol.
50 peaks were to blame although the defense of the corridor attributed them, without success, to an adulterated chuleton.
He was dispossessed of the 2010 tour and the 2011 turn by the ICU. The punishment, a varapalo that in another professional would have meant a total mood and mental collapse, was its fuel. Made of another pasta, he showed the world that he returned even stronger, achieving two other general triumphs in the Tour of Spain and the 2015 turn.
Because he defeated the disease and celebrated it in the best possible way
Without tragedy there is no hero. And accountant, like the great really, had his own fall and redemption.
On May 13, 2004, in the return to Asturias, he fell to the ground due to sudden dizziness and, being unconscious, suffered strong seizures. His life was in danger.
The cause was a congenital cerebral cavernoma that had to be operated urgently in Madrid for 5 hours. The enormous scar that has been attempted since then attests to the seriousness of the intervention.
For a year, accountant not only worked to recover a normal life, but also did it to return to the elite as if nothing had happened.
365 days later, the future champion was even stronger. So much that, the same day of his return, in the Australian Tour Down Under,
won the queen stage. The adversity made motivation and virtue as rarely has been seen in the history of this sport.
Because outside the road it was always an example
Professional sport requires exemplary behaviors when they are out of the foci. It is exhibited by Pau Gasol, is represented by Rafa Nadal and also has Alberto Contador since he began opening news and filling newspapers.
The path of the Pinteño before the media is an example of humility, moderation and respect for its rivals. His social responsibility is also out of any doubt, as evidenced by the creation, in 2010, of the Alberto Contador Foundation.
Its goal is to
"Raise awareness among the population and the health authorities of the enormous socio -health impact of ICTUS and improve the knowledge that the population has of it", as he himself indicated on the day of his inauguration.
Research scholarships and cycling events of awareness about this problem are some of the measures taken from this body.
