Contador plans to ride 2011 Tour of Spain

Madrid: 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 a Spanish sports daily, 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. Bureau Report