Alberto Contador joined an elite club on Sunday when he became one of only five cyclists to win all three Grand Tours.
The 25-year-old Spanish bicyclist's champioinship at the Vuelta a Espana in Madrid put him in the record books after previous wins at the Giro d'Italia in May and the Tour de France in 2007.
No one has ever won all three Grand Tours in the same year, that's an indication of the difficulty of achieving such a mark. The other four cyclists with at least one championship from each race:
Jacques Anquetil (France) — between 1957-1964
Felice Gimondi (Italy) — between 1965-1976
Eddy Merckx (Belgium) — between 1968-1974
Bernard Hinault (France) — between 1978-1985
Standing at Contador's on the podium in Madrid was second place finisher, by 46 seconds, and Astana teammate Levi Leipheimer.
Leipheimer, from Santa Rosa, California, can certainly be credited with helping Contador over the rough spots in all three Grand Tour wins.
In fact, Leipheimer actually was the first Astana member to wear the overall leader's golden jersey at the Vuelta this year after winning the Stage 5 individual time trial. Leipheimer found himself in the golden jersey again a few days later before relinquishing it for good.
Leipheimer also won the individual time trial on Saturday.
As a member of the Astana team, Leipheimer also helped Contador at both the Giro in May. In 2007, you'll remember that Leipheimer finished in 3rd place behind Contador as both were members of the soon-to-dissolve Discovery Channel pro cycling team.
Someone else who has been there for all three of Contador's wins — and perhaps even a bigger factor even though he doesn't ride in the peloton — is Johan Bruyneel, the directeur sportif of Astana and previously Discovery Channel.
An interesting development will be Lance Armstrong's desire to ride for Bruyneel again. If that means racing for Astana, which we'll know on Wednesday, does that put Contador — 1 of 5 cyclists to win all three Grand Tours — into the role of domestique for a cyclist who has won 7 Tours de France?
More details and results from the Vuelta at CyclingNews and VeloNews.
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