Rose Cantine » astana

Contador wins stage 15 of Tour de France in Verbier

esme — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 15:25:56 +0000

As expected, Alberto Contador (Astana) has won the first of the Alpine stages that ended in Verbier, Switzerland. He has also taken the maillot jaune. Lance Armstrong came in second. Contador showed his strength in the mountains and the next stages (rest day tomorrow) will test his experience and condition. Armstrong was very impressive indeed. A lot of people underestimated him because he retired four years ago and is much older than many riders.

Now things are getting interesting . . .

Levi Leipheimer abandons Tour de France 2009

esme — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 13:42:12 +0000

Levi Leipheimer (Astana) has decided to drop out of the Tour de France 2009 after a nasty crash in yesterday’s stage which ended in Vittel. Michael Rogers and Leipheimer crashed together at a turn which Rogers landing on top of Leipheimer and emerging unscathed. Leipheimer thought that his wrist injury was not serious and continued riding. He realized it was far worse only later in the night when the injury proved too painful and doctors advised him to have an operation.

The absence of Leipheimer is a big blow to Astana and to riders such as Lance Armstrong and Alberto Contador, the two leaders of the Astana team. But it gets more interesting for the other riders . . .

Lance Armstrong joins Astana

esme — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 15:12:04 +0000

Lance Armstrong will be riding for Astana in the coming year. Astana is a Kazakhstan team that has riders like Alberto Contador and Levi Leipheimer. I wonder how Contador will deal with this because until Armstrong’s announcement, Contador was the No. 1 rider. Contador says in an interview:

Sharing a team with Armstrong would be “seriously difficult,” says Contador. “I believe that I have won the right to ride as a team leader, without having to win the post,” he asserted. With Armstrong it could produce a difficult situation, because Armstrong would want the team to ride for him, at my expense, he explained. All the same, Contador said, “it is my intention to ride out my contract until 2010″ with Astana, though he admitted that he had received good offers from other teams. Can Armstrong win the Tour? “It would be very difficult, but not impossible,” believes the 2007 Tour winner.

Lance Armstrong makes a comeback

esme — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 01:54:20 +0000

Who would have believed? Lance Armstrong announced he’s coming out of retirement. He will be attempting to win his 8th Tour de France next year. It’s not known yet which team he’ll be riding for but rumors are circulating that it will be Astana.

It's official: Contador will ride for Astana in 2008 and 2009

esme — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 22:10:36 +0000

Alberto Contador says he will be riding for Astana in 2008 and 2009. Contador is part of the Discovery team that is disbanding at the end of this season because Disco is no longer sponsoring cycling.

Bruyneel, Contador and Leipheimer go to Astana

esme — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 00:03:44 +0000

A bit of surprising news. Johan Bruyneel, manager of the Discovery Team, is going to Astana together with Alberto Contador and Levi Leipheimer. The Discovery Team is disbanding at the end of this season because Discovery is no longer sponsoring cycling teams. I wonder what will happen if organizers of certain races such as the Tour de France decide not to allow Astana to race. Is there something in their contracts that allow them to switch? It’s pretty dangerous I think signing with Astana, whose team has been plagued with doping problems. Alexandre Vinokourov was caught blood doping during the Tour de France, causing the Tour organizers to kick him out. Astana pulled out as well. After Vino came news that Kaschechkin was also using blood doping to enhance his performance.

Cycling bits: Andreas Kloden leaving Astana whose fortunes keep declining

esme — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 12:29:14 +0000

Andreas Kloden did not show up at Astana’s training camp and he is working with a private coach, focusing on the World Championship in Stuttgart next month. It’s been a disastrous and frustrating year for Kloden, who was fifth in the standings at the Tour de France this year when teammate Alexander Vinokourov was kicked out for blood doping. Kloden had a very good chance of ending up in the top 3 but had to sacrifice his own performance to wait for Vinokourov at one stage of the Tour. In the end, the blood doping scandal forced Astana. Kloden gave up a great chance to end his career (he is 32) with a top 3 finish at the Tour de France.

Meanwhile, Astana just keeps getting more bad news. After yet another Astana rider was caught engaged in blood doping (Kaschechkin), the Vuelta (Tour of Spain) says they don’t want Astana to compete.