From his Paris hotel room Alberto Contador gazes down at the city below him. He watches as the vibrancy of a Monday morning rush hour plays out below, the faint hum of the traffic the only sound. Away with his thoughts, he fails to hear the first knock at his door. The second rat-a-tat-tat brings him back to reality and as he strides to the door, legs full of that familiar ache from racing three weeks across France, he knows how the conversation is going to play out. When he opens the door and sees his team manager Luca Guercilena the Spaniard raises an almost apologetic smile. That’s all Guercilena needs and in a Mecure hotel room, the morning after the Tour’s conclusion Contador confirms, unequivocally, his retirement.
What led Contador to the decision of hanging up his wheels at 34 years of age can be traced back several months, a year in fact, to the moment he signed on the dotted line with Guercilena and Trek-Segafredo. The Spaniard agreed terms during the 2016 Tour de France, inking a one-year deal. There was the option of second year – at the same rate – should both rider and team be satisfied with the first twelve months of their relationship, and until this summer it looked as though the collaboration would continue into 2018. However, the mere fact that Contador agreed to a twelve-month contract hinted that retirement wasn’t completely out of the picture back in 2016.
Come this year and Contador was at his attacking best in the early months. He backed up second overall in the Ruta del Sol with runner-up positions in Paris-Nice, Volta a Catalunya and Pais Basque. So confident were Trek that Contador was the right man for 2018 that the management only made lukewarm attempts in the transfer market during the spring.
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They heard from agents concerning Fabio Aru, Dan Martin and approached Geraint Thomas [he represents himself – ed.] but moved into June fully backing Contador.
What changed?
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