Alberto Contador will focus on retaining his Tour de France crown next season, but is also likely to feature in Paris-Nice and the Olympic road race.

The Spaniard has been thrust into the media spotlight since his unexpected Tour victory last July, but now the 25-year-old is keen to start his preparation for next season.

"With so many commitments I've hardly had time to rest, but I'm ready to get back on the bike and begin again from zero," Contador told Spanish sports paper Marca during a break at an award's ceremony in Spain. "I need to stop these (the award's ceremony) and get back to work."

Contador, who this autumn joined controversial team Astana along with his former Discovery team manager Johan Bruyneel, admitted that he will be under pressure to repeat the heroics of last season, which included scalps in both Paris-Nice and the Tour.

"I'll really feel it when the racing starts and I have all the world watching me," Contador said. "But I am also conscious that if I have the pressure it's because I've won and I tell myself, if I've won it once, I can win it again. That's what motivates me.

"I've always had self-confidence, but now, after the year I've had, I know that I can keep winning. We'll see how things go.

"Before, I only dreamed about winning, now, after winning once, I dream of winning again. There are other factors, but I see myself with options."

When quizzed on his rivals for the Tour, which begins in Brest on July 5, Contador listed his Astana team-mates Levi Leipheimer and Andreas Kloeden along with last year's Tour runner-up Cadel Evans.

The rising stars of Andy Schleck and Thomas Dekker were ones to watch, said Contador, whilst the likes of Carlos Sastre, Denis Menchov and Alejandro Valverde could not be discounted.

"There's not just one, there are several," he reiterated.

Contador's schedule for the fresh season is likely to mirror that of his last: Paris-Nice, a few select warm up races for the Tour, and then the Grande Boucle itself.

It is still undecided whether or not Contador will miss the Vuelta a Espana, as he did this year, but one additional target for the Spaniard are the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing.

"I've heard the course is very hard, though I don't know for sure, that there's a climb of 12km that's climbed six times," he said.

"If it's true, then it could be good for me, though I wouldn't mind working for (Oscar) Freire and Valverde if the course isn't as hard as they say it is."

FL / Eurosport