Today Alberto Contador attended today the official presentation of his Specialized-U23 and Flex-Junior teams, posed with the promising young Spanish squads and held an impromptu press conference in which he said that he considers the 2016 season as the last of his career, but left the door open for future reassessments.

Alberto Contador said the project of his Foundation, who is in its third season in 2015, “is becoming stronger and growing. We provide young people a set of values and a way of working which is already making these riders evolve very well."

For him, working with young people is necessary because “we have enough riders at the professional level, but in Spain there are not to many competitions and only a few teams. Perhaps in the future we can also make a professional team to give continuity to this project, but for that we need a main sponsor to take the project project with maximum guarantees and to give continuity to our work with the base."

Alberto Contador also spoke about his immediate debut on Wednesday at the Vuelta a Andalucía. “After many workouts, I want to compete which is what I like. Maybe I'm a little late compared with last year, because we have done the preparation like this, always thinking about the Giro and the Tour."

Regarding his big goal of the year, he said that he is only focused on the victory in both tours. “I'm a maverick and I don't think about anything else than winning, but that does not mean anything because it is very difficult to win one and even harder to win both. It will not be simple or easy."

Contador also spoke about his upcoming battle with Froome. “You always like to compete with the best in the world and Froome is one of the biggest rivals. We have to see how advanced he is in his preparation, but it's nice, cycling also needs these clashes, as it happens in football with rival teams."

As for the hypothesis of also doing the Vuelta, he said that it was not in his plans. “I do not have much time to do it, but this year I'm not
thinking about the Vuelta, unless I have a mishap or so at the Tour. In the end, I will try to win these races and already the Giro-Tour Challenge seems impossible to many people and it would be too much to also do the Vuelta."

Finally, he answered the question about his retirement and the speculations made in recent months. “At the moment I am very well, I recover well and am very happy with my team and the affection of the people. I do not know how long I will be able continue at this level, but I would not take it to the limit. I want to retire at the top. This year is a certainty, but next year will most likely be the last. Right now I do not think beyond 2016, but I could change my mind if I have a mishap in the Tour like last year but little else could make me make me reconsider my plans."