Three-time Tour de France Champion Alberto Contador has been selected as an ambassador for the World Stroke Organization, six years after recovering from surgery to stop bleeding in his brain.

In a statement issued Tuesday Contador said he will support a campaign to educate people about strokes. The 27-year-old Spanish rider won his third Tour de France title last month and has since joined Team Saxo Bank-SunGard.

Contador was 21 when he fell during the 2004 Tour of Asturias race and went into convulsions. He was diagnosed with a congenital vascular disorder, which can cause hemorrhagic stroke, and returned to road cycling eight months later.

Markku Kaste, the campaign chairman, says Contador's journey to become a cycling great is "truly an inspiration."