Alberto Contador will leave a contradictory legacy when he hangs up his wheels for good at the end of the Vuelta a España on September 10.
For some, the Spaniard will be remembered as the greatest stage race rider of his generation and arguably the most exciting talent to grace the professional peloton in the 21st century. For others, he will forever be the rider who was stripped of the 2010 Tour de France after testing positive for Clenbuterol, and the man who built a career under the management of Manolo Saiz, Johan Bruyneel and Bjarne Riis.
The two viewpoints are not necessarily mutually exclusive. The Tour de France organisation, for one, has displayed a sort of cognitive dissonance in its attitude towards Contador. In 2008, when Contador was the defending champion, ASO deemed him to be persona non grata due to the sulphurous reputation of his Astana team. Nine years and a doping ban later, on the eve of this year's Tour, race director Christian Prudhomme was happy to heap praise upon the Spaniard, telling L'Équipe that his wish was for Contador to be the main aggressor and "to decide the winner of the race".
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The 2011 Tour de France was, in light of Contador's second act as attacking shaman, perhaps his defining race. He arrived for the Grand Depart as the overwhelming favourite, but still uncertain if he would face sanction for his positive test on the previous year's Tour, and he was roundly booed by spectators at the presentation at Le Puy de Fou.
Three weeks later, Contador received a notably warmer welcome when he rode into Paris in fifth place overall. A crash on the opening stage, not to mention the exertions of his (since revoked) Giro d'Italia win the previous month, meant that he was a diminished presence on that Tour, but his startling, all-or-nothing attack on the short stage to l'Alpe d'Huez almost turned the race on its head. In many ways, the rehabilitation of his reputation began there, even before the Court of Arbitration for Sport decided to hand him a retroactive two-year ban the following February.
Specialized had begun to supply Contador with bikes in 2010 and made him a cornerstone of its marketing campaigns. The American bike manufacturer made no attempt to distance itself from the Spaniard, even during his suspension. Panache, it seemed, meant that any transgression could be forgiven.
Triumphs and controversy
A final heist on the road to Fuente Dé
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