Contador reaches preliminary deal to stay with Astana
* Tour de France champion strikes agreement
* Deal depends on Astana retaining licence
* Contract runs for only one more year (adds more quotes, details, byline)
By Alasdair Fotheringham
MADRID, Nov 19 (Reuters) - Tour de France champion Alberto Contador of Spain has reached a preliminary agreement with the Astana team to fulfil his contract until the end of 2010.
“The agreement depends on Astana retaining their ProTour licence for 2010 and the introduction of an internal anti-doping programme,” Contador’s press office said on Thursday.
Although Astana missed one deadline on Oct. 20, the governing International Cycling Union (UCI) is expected to reach a possibly definitive decision on a licence by Friday.
After a turbulent 2009, Contador had threatened to leave the Kazakh-funded Astana outfit and had opened negotiations with several other leading teams, having had contact with Caisse d’Epargne, Quick Step, Garmin-Slipstream and Liquigas.
Despite winning the Tour in July, the Spaniard’s year was also marked by delayed wages and a stormy relationship with Astana team mate and seven-time Tour winner Lance Armstrong. However, Thursday’s statement from his press office said:
“(Contador) has taken the decision to complete his contract with Astana having confirmed that both Yvon Sanquer, the new team manager, and sports director Giuseppe Martinelli guarantee the seriousness and competitiveness of the new Astana project.”
“In a short space of time they have managed to bring together a group of riders of great quality with which to tackle the sporting challenges of the next season.”
“The duration of the contract will be only one year because, apart from being a new project for Astana, Alberto Contador does not wish to renounce the option of making a decision about his longer term future,” added the statement.
Armstrong said in July he was quitting Astana to form a new RadioShack squad in 2010. The American’s long-standing manager Johan Bruyneel and the team’s top riders, compatriot Levi Leipheimer and German Andreas Kloden, are set to follow him.
(Editing by Ken Ferris; To query or comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)
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Reposted by popular demand.
I hear Vino has been practicing @ the local Holiday Inn in Hotel Kazakhstana karaoke.
Alexandre Vinokourov's touching tribute to Alberto Contador songs inclide:
Ticket to ride(Alberto)
Never Gonna Give You Up-----my fav--- all cyclist like to be rick-rolled
If You Leave Me Now
All By Myself
I Need You
You Belong to Me
Don't give up on Us Baby
Hotel Kazakhstana
Money
S.O.S.
Money, Money, Money
Waterloo
Allez Contador.
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At the 2009 Tour de France, Alberto defied competition--and Lance Armstrong.
By James Startt
Did a search, article is @ bicycling.com.
Good job Peter. The Spanish article was informative as well. Salute. Allez Contador.
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As a competitor in 5-6 sports over my lifetime, not a great competitor, I realize that age and injury take its toll on athletes.
That is why I didn't believe that Lance Armstrong would podium in 2009 Tour de France, but he proved me wrong.
I did believe that Alberto Contador would win the 2009 Tour de France, and he did. I am sorry that Alberto had to go through the TDF on a team that had Lance Armstrong on it.
This was pretty much Lance Armstrong's team. Many of these riders had supported him during his seven year run as TDF champion.
It seems as though there was a conspiracy going on in the background from the beginning of the year.
I believe that Lance originally said he missed racing, still wanted to do it, wanted to use cycling as
a way of spreading cancer awareness and raising money for his cancer foundation. There was no mention of winning the TDF at that point.
Team Astana did not need Lance Armstrong, he needed Team Astana.
Team Astana already had the best cyclist in the world, Alberto Contador, and Alberto Contador had every right to expect Team Astana to back him up 100%.
The addition of Lance Armstrong to Team Astana was the worst thing for the Team and for Alberto Contador.
It was definitely good for Lance and it was probably good for cycling and the TDF. If anything, Lance brings controversy to the TDF.
I admire Lance Armstrong for his cycling ability and his previous wins in the TDF.
I admire Alberto Contador because he has done something Lance Armstrong has never done, win the TDF on a team with divided loyalties. Team Astana was looking out more for Armstrong than it was Contador.
The best cyclist won the Tour de France. It could have been a much easier task and a more pleasant task, except for Lance Armstrong.
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No athlete has EVER been suspended for injecting:
insulin
glucose
cow blood
micro dosed EPO
hGH
Pot Belge
Ritalin
Viagra
Prozac
Zoloft
Per Lance's steroid doc, these are THUS PERMITTED. NO TESTING exists for these whatsoever!
TV sport entertainment to for ADVERTISING results! Little else.
ps: Frank Vandenbrouke joined Marco Pantani in a grave last week.
pss: Matt is a doping apologist and fool!
Report Abuse
He has flunked many drug tests.
He has had his medical waste, insulin, sringes and cow blood filmed being dumped before.
He has his teammates confess to EPO & steroid injections
He has his teammates fail drug tests whilst on his team (eg: Benoit Joachim)
He had his steroid doctor CONVICTED of illegal pharmacy
Nobody cared. We do!
Lance is a clean Drug Cheat on cow blood IVs and hGH & insulin
EPO and cow blood apologist Matt lusts after doper Contadoper!
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But in Europe, Contador's second victory at the Tour de France is hailed as one of the best Tour wins in recent years. "A Light Named Contador," the Spanish daily El Pais exclaimed the day after the Tour. Several French headlines hailed, "Contador The Conquistador."
Contador's supporters champion his most recent Tour victory as one of physical strength and mental grit. Not only did he beat his opponents on the road, he stood up to the challenges coming from within his own team.
Lance Armstrong came to this year's Tour de France to win. Armstrong's story is simply about nothing else. It's not about placing or being an also-ran; it's about victory.
To finish third, after more than three years out of competition, is in its own way an historic success. But as Armstrong's condition improved prior to the start of the Tour, he hoped for more.
And just as suddenly, the tables within the Astana team turned on Contador. In the name of objectivity, he was deprived of his friend and teammate Benjamin Noval, just days before the start. As Armstrong's scrappy style of racing moved him to within less than a second of the yellow jersey in the opening week, Contador appeared increasingly cornered.
Johan Bruyneel, the longtime coach and mentor to Armstrong acted confused. A master at building a team around one champion, he waffled, as both Contador and Armstrong attempted to impose their own sense of order.
Contador wanted to go on the attack early, capture the yellow jersey, and have the team defend it for the last two weeks of racing, a viable plan considering the great depth of talent within the Astana Armada. Bruyneel and Armstrong preferred restraint considering the daunting final week that was this year's Tour. Such a strategy also allowed Armstrong to ride into form later in the race.
"I'm the boss," Bruyneel told the French sports daily L'Equipe, on the day of the team time trial in Montpellier on stage four.
Contador was in no mood to listen.
His quiet eyes and gentle smile hide a very telling attribute--the killer inside him. He can appear conciliatory like his predecessor Miguel Indurain, but he is often confrontational. When team tactics demanded patience, he went on the attack, little matter the repercussions. When a journalist in the press conference in Annecy asked him on three occasions for his V02 max, he simply refused to answer, seemingly unconcerned by the criticism that could have ensued.
Like Armstrong, Contador was born a winner. Like Armstrong, Contador faced down death. The brain aneurism that nearly killed him in 2004 instead transformed him into the greatest stage race rider of his generation. Cleary he has little patience for anything or anyone that could get in his way.
After missing the 2008 Tour due to previous doping scandals on the Astana team, Contador had no intention of losing this year's race. After all, he has won every grand tour that he has entered since 2007.
And so he went on the attack, first in Andorra and then on the dreaded mountain stage to Le Grand Bornand. The attacks were often criticized within his own team. Quite visibly, the Astana plan and the Contador plan did not always go hand in hand. His attack on the Colombiere climb just before the finish in Le Grand Bornand cost his teammate Andreas Kloeden over two minutes and a shot at the podium; Contador later apologized. But few observers felt that he really regretted the move.
"Last year when I signed with Astana I did not know that I was returning with Lance. But it was that or nothing," he said in his final press conference after the 20th stage up Mont Ventoux. "It was very complicated," he said of his cohabitation with Armstrong. "A lot of things played against me. But I used them for motivation. This year's victory was a real combination of physical and mental strength. Every stage that I finished was one day less until we reached Paris."
After the race, his true feelings became completely clear. "My relationship with Lance is nonexistent," Contador said at a news conference in Madrid. "Even if he is a great champion, I have never had admiration for him and I never will."
And as he counted down the days until he reached Paris, he wasted little time in disposing his competition.
Like a matador in his nation's national sport of bullfighting, he brutalized his competition. His attacks in the mountains were nothing less than a mortal coup, a "pase de la muerte," the moment when the Matador strikes the bull with his deathblow.
On each occasion, be it on the slopes of the Pyrenees in Andorra or up the final climb to Verbier in the Swiss Alpes, they came with stunning efficiency. On each occasion he only needed to stab once. His opponents and Lance Armstrong withered instantly. And although the moves may not have always met with the stamp of approval within the Astana team, they were applauded by fans here, otherwise lulled by the lack of aggressive racing in the Tour.
The Tour de France is never a giveaway-the strongest rider always wins. This year, that was Alberto Contador.
Contador the Matador
At the 2009 Tour de France, Alberto defied competition--and Lance Armstrong.
By James Startt
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El conquistador de Tour, Giro y Vuelta ha anunciado que esta semana será decisiva para saber en qué escuadra militará la próxima temporada. El rechazo temporal de la UCI al plan estratégico de Astana ha propiciado que al español se le abra una puerta en su deseo de abandonar el grupo kazajo. La normativa internacional permite la ruptura unilateral del contrato, aunque habrá que esperar hasta el 20 de noviembre para conocer la resolución definitiva de los equipos con licencia ProTour.
Contador pretende cambiar de aires, pero antes quiere reunirse con la cúpula directiva del Astana para conocer sus planes para el próximo curso. Hasta el momento, los fichajes realizados son de su agrado: David de la Fuente y Paolo Tiralongo. También ha acogido con satisfacción el nombramiento del director Yvon Sanquer. Aunque no se fía, Alexander Vinokourov le ha prometido su apoyo.
La federación kazaja insiste en proteger a su gran reclamo publicitario y deportivo. Con él, los patrocinadores del este europeo tienen garantizada los principales titulares en el Tour de Francia. A Contador, lo que más preocupa es la inestabilidad financiera de un grupo que es incapaz de garantizar el sueldo de su empleados. Lo positivo es que no tendrá que compartir mesa y hotel con Lance Armstrong.
Si Contador decide mudarse de formación, las contraprestaciones serán sustanciosas. Pesos cualificados en el ciclismo español insisten en que lo más adecuado sería comprometerse con el Caisse d’Epargne. El pinteño estaría arropado por un compacto elenco de corredores, pero tendría que compartir liderazgo por Alejandro Valverde. Las posturas entre ambas partes parece que se han acercado en los últimos días, pero todas las negociaciones quedarán pendientes de resolución de la sentencia del TAS sobre el caso Valverde. Las posibilidades se incrementan si se confirma la sanción al murciano. Con la marcha de Pereiro, el principal referente para optar al Tour de Francia sería Luis León Sánchez, poca cosa, porque el joven contrarrelojista aún no ha finalizado su periodo de formación. Para mantener a Contador, Eusebio Unzue tendrá que negociar la entrada de un nuevo patrocinador. El equipo que más claramente ha pujado por el bicampeón del Tour ha sido el Quick Step, que presume de contar con la cantera más fructífera. Tradicionalmente, sus plantillas han sido la más numerosas, por eso la competencia entre sus propios corredores es permanente. La escuadra liderada por Tom Boonen, a diferencia de sus adversarios, apenas sufre problemas económicos. Hasta sus directores le han prometido que puede fichar a cinco corredores de su cuerda. Aquí, Contador se convertiría en el ciclista mejor pagado. Él lo tiene claro, pero también desconfía del ambiente del equipo. La otra opción es la del Garmin, donde militan corredores expertos, como Vanden Velde, Danielson, Julian Dean. En las preferencias de Contador figura en última posición, pero el hecho de que el español Bingen Fernández sea su nuevo director le otorga valiosos enteros.
La solución, en los próximos días.
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No athlete has EVER been suspended for injecting:
insulin
glucose
cow blood
micro dosed EPO
hGH
Pot Belge
Ritalin
Viagra
Prozac
Zoloft
Per Lance's steroid doc, these are THUS PERMITTED. NO TESTING exists for these whatsoever!
TV sport entertainment to for ADVERTISING results! Little else.
ps: Frank Vandenbrouke joined Marco Pantani in a grave last week.
pss: Matt is a doping apologist and fool!
Report Abuse
He has flunked many drug tests.
He has had his medical waste, insulin, sringes and cow blood filmed being dumped before.
He has his teammates confess to EPO & steroid injections
He has his teammates fail drug tests whilst on his team (eg: Benoit Joachim)
He had his steroid doctor CONVICTED of illegal pharmacy
Nobody cared. We do!
Lance is a clean Drug Cheat on cow blood IVs and hGH & insulin
EPO and cow blood apologist Matt lusts after doper Contadoper!
Report Abuse
Report Abuse
Report Abuse
No athlete has EVER been suspended for injecting:
insulin
glucose
cow blood
micro dosed EPO
hGH
Pot Belge
Ritalin
Viagra
Prozac
Zoloft
Per Lance's steroid doc, these are THUS PERMITTED. NO TESTING exists for these whatsoever!
TV sport entertainment to for ADVERTISING results! Little else.
ps: Frank Vandenbrouke joined Marco Pantani in a grave last week.
pss: Matt is a doping apologist and fool!
Report Abuse
He has flunked many drug tests.
He has had his medical waste, insulin, sringes and cow blood filmed being dumped before.
He has his teammates confess to EPO & steroid injections
He has his teammates fail drug tests whilst on his team (eg: Benoit Joachim)
He had his steroid doctor CONVICTED of illegal pharmacy
Nobody cared. We do!
Lance is a clean Drug Cheat on cow blood IVs and hGH & insulin
Report Abuse
El español Alberto Contador, ganador del Tour de Francia 2009,
recibió el galardón el Vélo d’or por tercera vez consecutiva, el cual entrega una revista especializada al mejor ciclista mundial del año. "De alguna manera mi victoria tuvo más repercusión por la rivalidad con (el estadunidense Lance) Armstrong", estimó el pedalista, quien tiene en la mira refrendar el título de la competencia gala en 2010. La víspera, Contador finalizó segundo en el Criterium de Alcobendas, prueba que se adjudicó su compatriota Alejandro Valverde.
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Nike is looking to sell you some steroid sneaker dummy!
Report Abuse
He has flunked many drug tests.
He has had his medical waste, insulin, sringes and cow blood filmed being dumped before.
He has his teammates confess to EPO & steroid injections
He has his teammates fail drug tests whilst on his team (eg: Benoit Joachim)
He had his steroid doctor CONVICTED of illegal pharmacy
Nobody cared. We do!
Lance is a clean Drug Cheat on cow blood IVs and hGH & insulin
Report Abuse
As Peter Joachim so elequently put it, I will be one of the "morons" who will watch on TV as much of the tours as possible.
Speaking of my favorite person in the world, Mr. Peter Joachim. Thanks for the publicity in your post Peter J. I am honored once again. Can't you do better than calling me a "doper apologist" and "fool"? Is that all you can muster? What a weak response. You must be losing your touch. To be clear and to the point, I am no doper apologist Mr. PJ.... I don't like the cheaters any more than anyone here. What your problem is and why you lose all credibility with 99.9% of the posters here, is that you spew the same crap all the time over all different blogs. You don't entertain civil discussion with anyone. You don't come up with solutions to your rants. You just rant and rant and rant. Like others have said before, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH...
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Hulk Hogan = Tiger, Serena, Kobe, LeBron, A-Roid and Lance
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No athlete has EVER been suspended for injecting:
insulin
glucose
cow blood
micro dosed EPO
hGH
Pot Belge
Ritalin
Viagra
Prozac
Zoloft
Per Lance's steroid doc, these are THUS PERMITTED. NO TESTING exists for these whatsoever!
TV sport entertainment to for ADVERTISING results! Little else.
ps: Frank Vandenbrouke joined Marco Pantani in a grave last week.
pss: Matt is a doping apologist and fool!
Report Abuse
He has flunked many drug tests.
He has had his medical waste, insulin, sringes and cow blood filmed being dumped before.
He has his teammates confess to EPO & steroid injections
He has his teammates fail drug tests whilst on his team (eg: Benoit Joachim)
He had his steroid doctor CONVICTED of illegal pharmacy
Nobody cared. We do!
Lance is a clean Drug Cheat on cow blood IVs and hGH & insulin
1 - 25 of 86