Alberto Contador confirms he'll ride Giro & Tour in 2015

Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) has confirmed that he will be targeting the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France in 2015, but won't be taking on Oleg Tinkov's challenge of riding all three grand tours.

It means the Spaniard will not defend his 2014 Vuelta a Espana title next year, telling radio station COPE that the two grand tours he's already targeting will be more than enough.

"The plan I have is to do the Giro and the Tour and I think that's a tough enough challenge" he said.

"I know that at some point you can hurt your chances for the Tour, but the Giro is a race that really motivates me and one that I like a lot."

Contador was speaking from Tanzania, where he is currently climbing Mount Kilimanjaro along with the rest of his Tinkoff-Saxo team and staff, including new signing Peter Sagan.

The trip is part of a team building exercise devised by team manager Bjarne Riis, but the expedition has recently hit bad weather, meaning the team might not be able to reach the summit of the mountain.

“We are completely out of touch with the world up here, inside a tent, with hot water, coffee, and chocolate to keep us warm,” said Contador.

“It shouldn’t be that hard [the climb], but we've had some bad luck. It’s been raining every day and it’s very cold.”

Contador's decision to avoid the Vuelta in 2015 could pave the way for Chris Froome to have a shot at the Spanish grand tour, as the British rider hinted last month that he would skip the Tour, taking on the Vuelta and beforehand, the Giro, where he is likely to come head-to-head with Contador.

No rider has yet to declare any interest in taking on Tinkov's grand tour challenge, with both Vincenzo Nibali and Nairo Quintana saying that they will be fully focused on the Tour in 2015.

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