After a Giro – Tour double proved too hard even for such a champion as Alberto Contador, the Tinkoff-Saxo leader will follow a more ordinary schedule next year, targeting Tour de France and Vuelta a Espana. As Russian team owner revealed on Twitter, Rafał Majka will be given a chance to test himself as a captain again in the Giro d'Italia.

“OK, here is our humble plan for Tinkoff Team in 2016. To WIN Giro w Rafal Majka , Tour and Vuelta w Alberto Contador,” Oleg Tinkov wrote on Twitter.

Contador is a seasoned Grand Tour contender with three Vuelta a Espana and two Tour de France titles in his palmares, but experienced Spaniard, fatigued after his appearance in the Giro, couldn't succesfully compete with riders targeting exclusively the French three-week event.

In such circumstances, he wisely decided to not to experiment with race programme in his final year as a professional cycling, giving himself a fair chance to add at least one more Grand Tour title to his impressive palmares.

“The primordial objective is the Tour de France. I'm a rider who likes to be competitive in every race I enter – I want to do well in the races at the start of the year – but the focus will be purely on the Tour. The only thing I can guarantee is that I'm preparing for it 100 per cent," Contador told Cyclingnews, confirming that the 2016 season will be his last as a professional cyclist.