FORMER PROFESSIONAL CYCLIST AND WINNER OF TWO TOURS DE FRANCE IN 2007 AND 2009
Since his retirement in 2017, professional Alberto Contador has not stopped looking for new challenges and businesses to undertake. The cyclist tells us that suffering a stroke has helped him to value the present and achieve things he could never have imagined. Now he is preparing for a new season together with his team Eolo Cometa in the Oliva Nova resort, the place where they are committed to carry out part of the training and the stage of the cycling competition that bears his own name: Gran Fondo Alberto Contador.
Tell us, why do you visit Oliva Nova so often?
The part of the training that we carry out here in Oliva Nova is fundamental. Here we build the basis for the results of the whole season, of the best races in the world. The goal of our team EOLO-KOMETA Cycling Teames Il Giro d’Italia. Having good land and facilities where a large team can work is a must.
What do you mean by the conditions you find in Oliva Nova?
The weather and the terrain are very important when it comes to continuity in training. We need flat routes and climbs to be able to do specific parts and improve our technique in the mountains. Also winter training facilities, such as a gymnasium. To have all this at your fingertips, a maximum of two hours away by plane, is a real privilege.
I’ve read in some interviews from your racing days that the diet and restrictions you have to undergo are pretty tough. In Oliva Nova you have a very good gastronomic offer. Is that one of the interesting parts?
Every cyclist has to be a professional and know what suits him or her at any given moment. I am honestly delighted now because I don’t have to watch what I eat and how I have to do it. It is true that cyclists are a little more limited, but Oliva Nova meets all the requirements for optimal nutrition.
Is it a good time for cycling in Spain?
I think we are in a moment of transition. We come from a generation that has achieved a lot of success and the bar has been set very high. We still have quality runners, but always win, it’s very difficult.
You started at the age of 12, but cycling is not an easy sport to get into as a child. Is this a handicap for young cyclists?
The more cycling teams there are, the more likely it is that people will become fans. Cycling is a sport for which parents have much respect because children have to go out on the road, they go at high speed, they can fall, they can get hurt… But I think on the other hand it’s incredibly valuable when it comes to shaping your child with values. We live in a conformist society that is becoming increasingly frustrated. Cycling has many values, the capacity for perseverance, companionship, not giving up, and that is missing more and more every day.
In 2017 you retire professionally from racing and suddenly a lot of things happen in your life. At what point are you at now?
I am in a super nice moment, a moment that would have been hard for me to imagine. As a television commentator, narrating the sport that I love and that makes me feel alive. Also, at the helm of a bicycle brand that is performing incredibly well in the market. I am very happy because when you are a professional you are under the spotlight of all the cameras and when you retire, your life changes completely and you have to look for another motivation, to feel fulfilled every day to be able to continue.
A few years ago you had a very big personal hiatus. The problem of the stroke, the fall… but you managed to recover completely and you achieved important successes for you. Does that make you stronger? Does it shield you from certain things?
No doubt about it. The difficulties I have faced make you relativize all the obstacles you encounter along the way and allow you to differentiate what is important from what is not. In fact, thanks to this I think I have achieved things I could never have imagined.
What are your favorite places in Oliva Nova? You usually come here to train, do you also come here to unwind?
Honestly, Oliva Nova feels like home. We have a very good relationship on a personal level and the welcoming by the people at the reception desk and all the people in charge of the large compound of horse riding, soccer, tourism… is exceptional. When I come here I feel comfortable and that makes me feel at home.
Tell us about your Gran Fondo, how does it emerge? What does it consist of?
The Gran Fondo Contador was in the beginning itinerant, that is to say, it was in different cities, although in some the circuit was more attractive than in others.
The Oliva Nova complex fulfilled a series of unbeatable requirements to host the celebration. We started with just over a thousand participants and after several years we have reached 4,000 registered, and that because we closed the registrations. It is a real luxury to have the start and finish line 100 meters from the hotel and that it is held the last weekend of September because you make a small break with the family before joining the routine.
Alberto Contador is already a brand name. I understand that it is a source of pride to have your name transcend your own career, isn’t it?
Well, it’s nice. When you are a professional what you try to do is, above all, to win races, but you don’t really know what it entails or the return it can give you
tomorrow. Professional sports is very hard because when you are active everything is easy, but when you retire everything changes. Having achieved things I could never have imagined makes me feel alive again. I have hopes, motivation every day… I feel very fortunate for what I have achieved in my professional career.
And finally, what are your goals for the future?
The main objectives are to consolidate the Alberto Contador Foundation together with the EOLO-KOMETA Cycling Team. Also, to consolidate the Aurum Bikes brand and keep it growing in the market. Hopefully in fifteen to twenty years it will be one of the most powerful firms in the sector.
