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Contador plans to ride 2011 Tour of Spain
Cycling's top stage racer Alberto Contador has said he wants to ride the Tour of Spain in 2011 after a three-year absence.
In an interview with Spanish sports daily MARCA, Spain's triple Tour de France winner said "if everything goes normally, I will do two major Tours.
"It's not completely certain, but in principle, I will do the Tour de France and the Tour of Spain."
Contador's first and only ride in the Tour of Spain was back in 2008, when he won it overall, becoming the fifth rider and first Spaniard in cycling to complete a grand slam of all three major tours.
Asked why he had not taken part this year, Contador said:
"Some people don't realise that when I rode the Tour de France this July, my season was almost over.
"I never go to a race simply for the pleasure of it, I always try to win them.
"I was already up there in my first race of the year (in February), the Tour of the Algarve in Portugal" -- a race Contador won.
"When I rode the Tour I was hitting top form for the second time in the year," he added.
Contador said he had not fully recovered from a recent knee injury caused by a crash during training but would return to his bike in the next few days.
After a gruelling Tour de France in which he was only assured of victory 24 hours before the race reached Paris, Contador says he aims to get "much stronger" in 2011.
"It's been a tough year, but I want to recover well completely before starting getting ready for 2011," he said.
"I'm very motivated and I'm sure I will be a lot stronger than in 2010."
The Tour of Spain 2010's stage ten later on Tuesday is a 175.7 kilometre ride from Tarragona to Vilanova i la Geltru. Spain's Igor Anton is the overall leader.
