Two-time Tour de France winner Alberto Contador was at the Plaza Eboli Mall in his home town of Pinto, Spain yesterday to unveil his new School of Cycling.
Contador is scheduled to join the school’s first training camp on Gran Canaria on January 8th.
The new school is funded by the Alberto Contador Foundation, and it’s directed by former pro cyclist Félix García Casas. The school currently supports a junior team, however, along with Specialized, an under-23 team is scheduled for 2014.
Contador described the occasion as “a great and exciting day because we launch a cycling school, something than me, for example, hadn’t the opportunity to enjoy. Our goal is not to achieve future professionals, but kids can enjoy the bike and will see what happens in the future.”
The school aimed at training boys and girls, between the ages of 8 and 14.
Spanish cycling “is at the highest professional level, but at the base has huge gaps,” Contador expained. “This is a great effort of both work and time as well as economics. For example, we have not yet covered the fleet of vehicles we need for the Junior and Under 23 teams and that is a great effort for us, but nevertheless this project is very rewarding. This is what really motivates me to go out every day to train”.
The school currently has 15 students enrolled, who attend classes at the Pinto headquarters on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons.
Contador hopes that training aspiring racers at a young will lay the groundwork for future professional riders.
“Why not? This is an important step”, he said, but acknowledged that it all depends on “the support of sponsors. But from what I’ve seen this year in the junior team, they are going to be the ones that we will enjoy watching within a decade.”
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