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On August 18, 2017, Alberto Contador spoke to the press on the team's press conference ahead of the Vuelta a España.
The press conference started with Alberto paying his respects to the victims of the terrorist attacks in Spain yesterday: "Before anything else, I think we are all very touched by what happened yesterday in Barcelona. I would like to pay my respect and show my solidarity and support to the family and friends of the victims. It's incredible to see what's happening around us nowadays, but I am convinced that the best way to honor the victims is to keep going on."
"I was thinking about retiring for quite some time, even though Luca (Guercilena, General Manager Trek-Segafredo) and I were also discussing to extend my contract and to keep going until the Giro d'Italia of next year. But the truth is that I wasn't sure of either one of those options and I knew the Tour de France would give me the answer. Not because of the results, but I knew I would arrive at the start of the Tour in optimal conditions so I was sure the answer to my question would come during or right after the Tour. And it was exactly like that. At one point, that must have been after stage 9, I saw things very clear and I knew what I had to do, but to be honest that decision was already, let's say a 70% sure before the start of the Tour de France."
"I came to the Tour in optimal conditions, with the perfect weight, with really good numbers on training, comparable to 2014, but then there are those things that were not in the plan, such like the crashes. So, you can do all the work you want, you can arrive in the best shape ever to the start of the race, but in the end, those unforeseen things prevent you from benefiting from your hard work, from showing your real shape. Also I wanted to give the opportunity to the team to think about the future. "
"The continental team that will be managed by the Alberto Contador Foundation (announced earlier this week), did not influence my decision. We were thinking in this for a long time already. This team will make the foundation even more solid. The truth is that this project will take a lot of my time in the future and I am eager to work on this. Thanks to the support of Trek-Segafredo, Polartec and Kometa I am sure we will be able to make this a great team and I am really looking forward to that."
"Whenever I go to a race, I go there give it my all. I have always been very professional and I will be like that until my very last raceday. At the same time it's also true that this Vuelta is really special. I want to enjoy it to the maximum and I feel lucky that I can live this experience. I believe this is the ideal place and time to say goodbye to professional cycling and I am convinced it will be a dream of 3 weeks. Of course, all depends on how the race goes and how the rivals and other teams are performing."
"Yes, I am totally sure about my decision, so even if I have a very very good result here, I won't change my mind (laughs)."
"My preparation was very different of what I am used to. I have never done the Vuelta after finishing the Tour. When I combined Vuelta and Tour in the past, it was because I had some kind of setback or mishap that prevented me from finishing the Tour, like it was in 2014 and 2016. So, basically I tried to rest up as much as I could. I stayed in Madrid and the last 10 days I trained quite well. This is totally new for me of course, but I think I have recovered very well from the Tour."
"I have sweet memories of France and his cycling fans, so it will be for sure a very special feeling to take the start of the Vuelta here!"
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