Alberto Contador is auctioning his bike from the 2011 Giro d'Italia and Tour de France while Rafael Nadal is selling the shirt he wore when he won the 2019 French Open to raise money for the Spanish Red Cross' fight against the coronavirus.
Much to the dismay of Tour de France organisers, a cloud of doping suspicion will hang over their race, and in particular over triple champion Alberto Contador, when the 2011 edition begins on Saturday.
Tour de France winner Alberto Contador has turned down an offer to extend his contract with Astana and wants to leave the Kazakh-funded team, his brother and agent was quoted as saying on Friday. Astana had made the rider a lucrative offer to sign for another four years but the Spaniard declined it, Fran Contador told French sports daily L'Equipe.
Alberto Contador emerged as the new cycling boss on Sunday when the Spaniard wrapped up his second Tour de France title on the Champs-Elysees on Lance Armstrong's return to the race. Seven-times champion Armstrong, back from 3-1/2 years in retirement, finished third overall 5:24 off the pace.
Tour de France winner Alberto Contador and the Tour of Spain runner-up Ezequiel Mosquera were suspended for suspected doping on Thursday in a devastating blow to cycling's battered image. The suspensions set back the sport's efforts to restore its credibility after a string of high-profile drugs cases.
A chain malfunction in the last climb of the 187.5-kms 15th stage derailed Andy Schleck's Tour de France chances and allowed rival Alberto Contador to grab the yellow jersey on Monday.
Alberto Contador's Saxo Bank-Sungard team could be thrown out of cycling's World Tour after the Spaniard was given a two-year doping ban by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, the International Cycling Union (UCI) said on Friday.
Alberto Contador was on Tuesday considering appealing against the two-year ban he was handed by Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) for failing a dope test during his victorious 2010 Tour de France campaign.
The International Cycling Union (UCI) has asked the Spanish federation to open disciplinary proceedings against Tour de France winner Alberto Contador for failing a drugs test, the UCI said on Monday.
Alberto Contador has promised a more exciting Tour de France this year after Bradley Wiggins's Team Sky dominated all the way to the Champs-Elysees in the 2012 edition.
Chris Froome and Alberto Contador were back in control of the Tour de France, hurting their main rivals in a hectic second stage won by German Andre Greipel on Sunday.
Once again, Alberto Contador is the Tour de France favourite and, once again, Lance Armstrong stands in his way. Although Luxembourg's Andy Schleck seems to be his main challenger, Armstrong will lead a very strong RadioShack team that could, if they do not help their man to win the Tour, cause havoc in the three-week race and deny Contador a third title.
Andy Schleck snatched his second stage win of the Tour de France on the last mountain leg of the race on Thursday as leader Alberto Contador took a big step towards clinching a third overall victory.
Seven-times Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong was full of praise for his new Astana team mate Alberto Contador on Thursday.
Alberto Contador is free to compete again after Spain's cycling federation (RFEC) lifted his one-year doping ban on Tuesday but the Tour de France champion still faces the threat of possible appeals by two global bodies.
Sport's highest tribunal began a four-day hearing, on Monday, which could result in three-times Tour de France champion Alberto Contador being stripped of his 2010 title for doping.
Alberto Contador's Tour de France chances suffered an early blow on Saturday when the Spaniard crashed with about 80 km left in the first stage.
Alberto Contador proved time was on his side when he outclassed seven times champion Lance Armstrong and the rest of the peloton to seize the Tour de France lead in the Alps on Sunday. The Spaniard surged ruthlessly with six kilometres left in the 207.5-km 15th stage to the Swiss ski resort of Verbier to collect the stage laurels and his first yellow jersey since his 2007 victory in Paris.
Tour de France winner Alberto Contador found the time he spent off the road with Astana team mate Lance Armstrong tougher than the race itself, the Spaniard said on Monday. The 26-year-old picked up his second Tour title in Paris on Sunday, finishing ahead of Luxembourg's Andy Schleck and Armstrong who came third.
Alberto Contador's Tour de France dreams were shattered on Monday when the Spaniard was stripped of one of his three titles and banned for two years by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) for failing a dope test during the 2010 race.
A month after completing a two-year ban for doping, Alberto Contador showed that he was still a force to be reckoned with as he won his second Vuelta a Espana title on Sunday.
Spanish rider Alberto Contador returned an 'adverse analytical finding' for clenbuterol following an analysis of a urine sample taken during an in-competition test on the second rest day of the Tour de France, the International Cycling Union said on Thursday.
Double champion Alberto Contador took a spectacular tumble as the Tour de France got off to a chaotic start with German Marcel Kittel winning a crash-marred opening stage on Saturday.
Alberto Contador showed he was prepared to risk everything to win the Tour de France on Tuesday, crashing on the final descent as he tried to attack overall leader Chris Froome.
Lance Armstrong promised on Tuesday not to try to overhaul his Astana team mate Alberto Contador as overall race leader but still allowed himself to dream of an eighth Tour de France victory. The 37-year-old American, back in the saddle after three-and-a-half years in retirement, is second overall, one minute 37 seconds behind the Spaniard after the 16th stage.
Cycling should try to put the Lance Armstrong doping case behind it, Spain's double Tour de France winner Alberto Contador, who returned from a two-year doping ban in August, said on Saturday.
Spain's Alberto Contador has been given a two-year ban by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) for failing a dope test during the 2010 Tour de France, the International Cycling Union (UCI) said on Monday.
Former Giro d'Italia winner Ivan Basso withdrew from the Tour de France on Monday after revealing he has testicular cancer.
Froome in control as Contador drifts, Van Garderen out of Tour de France.
Chris Froome remains in contention for a fourth Tour de France title after Team Sky put the pressure on their rivals with a perfectly executed plan in Friday's 13th stage, won on Bastille Day by France's Warren Barguil.
The Tour de France starts on Saturday from Passage de Gois. Here are some key questions and answers about the three-week race.
The strengths and weaknesses of leading contenders in the 2011 Tour de France which starts on Saturday.
Overall leader Chris Froome put the hammer down on the Tour de France when the Briton humiliated his rivals in the first mountain test, winning the 10th stage in awe-inspiring fashion on Tuesday.
Tour de France winners since the event was first staged in 1903.
Tom Dumoulin of the Netherlands attacked near the foot of the final climb to win the ninth stage of the Tour de France in extreme weather conditions as Alberto Contador pulled out of the race on Sunday.
Alberto Contador will cement his status as the best grand tour rider of the modern era if he emerges as the winner of the Big Four's battle royale at the Tour de France -- the most highly anticipated race in decades.
Portugal's Rui Costa took his second win of this year's Tour de France with a solo victory at Le Grand Bornand on Friday.
Carlos Sastre became the third successive Spaniard to win the Tour de France on Sunday in another major sporting triumph for his country this year. Australian Cadel Evans finished second overall, 58 seconds behind Sastre, who effectively secured victory on Saturday after resisting Evans in the decisive time-trial.
This year's Tour de France had been advertised as an exciting battle royale between four great riders yet it panned out as an underwhelming contest as Chris Froome's rivals failed to live up to expectations.
Chris Froome moved closer to a maiden Tour de France title with an awe-inspiring victory on top of the intimidating Mont Ventoux, pulling away from his rivals in brutal fashion seven kilometres from the finish on Sunday.
