Two-time Tour winner Contador to end cycling career

LONDON, August 7: Twice Tour de France champion Alberto Contador will hang up his racing bike after this year's Vuelta a Espana, bringing to an end the career of one of the world's greatest cyclists.

The Spaniard, one of six riders to have won all three Grand Tours in a 14-year professional career marred by a doping ban, made his announcement on social media site Instagram on Monday.

"I will participate in the next Vuelta a Espana from August 19 and that will be my last race as a professional," the 34-year-old seven-times Grand Tour champion said.

"I say this happy, without sadness. It's a decision that I have thought very well and I don't think there is a better farewell than in the home race and in my country."

"I'm sure they will be three wonderful weeks."

Nicknamed El Pistolero for his attacking style and ability to mount devastating attacks in the mountains, Contador won his first Tour de France in 2007 with the Discovery Channel team before moving to Astana and winning it again in 2009.

He also won the 2010 edition but in 2012 was stripped of that title after being banned for two years after testing positive for the banned substance clenbuterol at the race.

Contador, who blamed it on contaminated steak, initially had a one-year ban lifted by the Spanish cycling federation but the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) eventually banned him, backdating it to January 2011 and erasing all his results from July 2010 to February 2012.