Contador fallout. Spaniard hopes quick ruling will save his hair.

///Contador fallout. Spaniard hopes quick ruling will save his hair.

Contador fallout. Spaniard hopes quick ruling will save his hair.

Contador's hair. Another loss for Alberto.

Alberto Contador is in a race against time. More precisely against hair loss.

The Spaniard admitted that the stress of his on-going doping investigation is causing his hair to fall out. The prospect of a long, drawn out legal battle has both Contador and his hair stylist concerned.

“He is young, he has plenty of hair but it’s the rate of loss that worries me,” said Carmen Rivera, owner of Mas Elegante, a salon in Pinto. “I am monitoring the situation. We have to wonder, is this temporary or something of greater concern.”

Every day that the four judges deliberate presents another loss for Contador. Legal experts on both sides of the clenbuterol case have no clear idea when the Spanish Cycling Federation will announce their ruling. For Contador, the fall-out could be catastrophic.

“Each time he comes in for a trim, we have less to work with. Alberto and I have spoken openly and I have shown him fashion magazine pictures of men with shaved heads. It upset him greatly,” said Rivera.

Hair or no hair, Contador has the full support of his new team manager Bjarne Riis. “Personally, I like the bald look. It signals intelligence, a quality I look for in my riders,” said Riis. “It would be an adjustment for him, certainly, but he is a champion and hair has no affect on power output.”

Nevertheless, the prospect of serious hair loss has the Spanish rider worried. According to one source, he has already sought out fellow countryman Alejandro Valverde. While Valverde lost his doping case in the Court for Arbitration in Sport and was banned for two years, he did win his battle with hair loss. The two apparently spent an afternoon discussing the use of hair retention products like Rogaine.

“Alberto has great respect for Alejandro, not only as a rider, but as a handsome, good-looking man,” said Contador’s press agent Jacinto Vidarte. “He has faced the same problems that Alberto is facing now. He gave him much hope.”

He will need all the hope he can get. With the UCI and WADA publicly announcing they will appeal any ruling they find unsatisfactory, the potential for a year long battle — and significant hair loss — is a highly possible.

“Alberto is scared, he told me as much. He has so much to lose and already it is going fast,” said his hair stylist Rivera. “He doesn’t want to end up looking like a dark skinned Michael Rasmussen.”

By |2019-02-03T16:22:50-08:00December 7th, 2010|Alberto Contador|7 Comments

About the Author:

7 Comments

  1. Ricola December 7, 2010 at 10:28 am - Reply

    Hair loss due to legal concerns is hereby coined "Clenbuterol Fall-Out".

    I guess the author of that bikeworldnews.com article is no fan of El Pistolero.

    • TwistedSpoke December 7, 2010 at 3:05 pm - Reply

      CLenbuterol fallout. so close to Chernobyl fall out

  2. @bikeworldnews December 8, 2010 at 5:44 am - Reply

    Thanks to TS for the link!

    No, I've never been a big fan of Alberto, and the whole clenbuterol affair hasn't helped matters. His "there is no team in I" ego irks me.

    • TwistedSpoke December 8, 2010 at 10:36 am - Reply

      Yeah, well, hard not to have an ego when you're a team leader. I haven't made a final decision on Alberto. An immense talent and still young. Matt

      • jcluddite December 8, 2010 at 6:44 pm

        I'm with Matt on this opinion, or lack of. I wonder how much of our (american) perception has been effected riding for Astana w/ with lance and company? He's young. being under such scrutiny with lance on his comeback tour would make any young, talented riders head spin. How could he feel comfortable or be himself? I made plenty of stupid decision when in my early 20's without being famous.

        my own opinion is we would all have different view of Alberto if he was on primarily European team( and hadn't dropped Andy on the tour for the dropped chain).

      • TwistedSpoke December 8, 2010 at 9:22 pm

        JC, I divide the world into two groups: those who agree with me and those who don't. I work just like the Catholic church. Those who agree with me go to cycling heavan and get a celestial Pinarello, those who don't go to hell and are forced to ride tricycles with no seats, Thanks for being on my side. Wise of you.

  3. […] that the constant stress of the doping investigation was causing his hair to fall out. It was a situation that worried his stylist Carmen Rivera, owner of Mas Elegante. But for now, he’s going blonde, not […]

Leave A Comment