Alberto Contador has told Cyclingnews that he may race on in 2017 by creating his own team, or he will retire like initially planned.

“I have two options in my head: One is to carry on if I suffer a mishap at the Tour, as I did in 2014, and the other is to launch a professional team,” Contador explained to the Spanish media, admitting the chances of him racing in 2017 could be as high as 50 per cent.

“It [my retirement] depends on a series of circumstances and on how the year plays out. But I’m certainly starting this season feeling very motivated, keen to get the ball rolling and then we’ll see what happens,” he told Cyclingnews.

Contador has done lots of training in the Canary Islands this offseason, but is yet to race this year. That will change tomorrow when he tackles the Volta ao Algarve.

“I’ve got a good base of winter form and done some good training in the Canaries. What I’m lacking now as the Volta ao Algarve comes up for me, is racing and race rhythm, particularly compared to other riders who’ve already started their season. But looking ahead and at the Tour de France, I thought the best thing would be to start the season a little later. Overall things are looking very good.”

2016 will be the last season he races for Oleg Tinkov, and Contador wants to give his boss the best going away present ever: the Tour de France.

“Oleg has been working with me since 2012 and these last few years have been amongst the most important of my career. In these last four years, too, he’s been working very hard to defend cycling and fight for his team. I can’t think of a better way to say thank you to him for all of the time and effort he’s put into the sport, than for me to have a really great season.”