Alberto Contador to race Vuelta a España after all

Rob Sturney August 14, 2014

Two-time Vuelta a España champion Alberto Contador announced Thursday that he is fit enough to race the final Grand Tour of the year after all. The Spanish rider from Tinkoff-Saxo crashed out of the Tour de France on Stage 10 with a broken leg and initially vowed to race the Vuelta but decided by late July that he wasn’t mending fast enough and abandoned the goal.

Hi all.I want to announce I will ride the Vuelta a España.Here you have a little video.See you all in Jerez http://t.co/T83QmVJL1t

— Alberto Contador (@albertocontador) August 14, 2014

Contador holds no illusions about being a GC threat in the race. Instead he’s aiming for a stage win in the last week.

Contador joins a heady list of premier stage racers in what has become a greatly anticipated contest. Chris Froome (Great Britain/Sky), himself a Tour crash victim, returns to action. Giro winner Nairo Quintana (Colombia/Movistar) is looking to match Contador’s 2008 feat of winning the Giro and Vuelta in the same season.

Other heavies like defending champion Chris Horner (USA/Lampre), Garmin-Sharp one-two punch Ryder Hesjedal and Dan Martin, Thibault Pinot (France/FDJ), Joaquim Rodriguez (Spain/Katusha), and Colombian threats Rigoberto Uran (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) and Carlos Betancur (Ag2r) all make for an attractive field.

The 69th Vuelta a España runs from August 23 to September 14. Canadian Cycling Magazine will have daily race reports.