Rose Cantine » contador

Contador opens up about Armstrong

esme — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 23:55:03 +0000

Now that the Tour de France 2009 is over, the fur is finally flying. Alberto Contador, winner of the Tour, has come out and told the world what his real feelings are towards Armstrong — that he has never admired Lance and never will – personally, that is. Professionally, it’s a different story, says Contador, but then again how do you separate feelings? Are they in different containers? One must spill out into the other.

Contador also said that being around Armstrong was much more difficult than the entire Tour. “The situation was very delicate and tense because the conflict with Armstrong spread to the rest of the team. I don’t know yet which team I will be joining after this but I need a team that stands by me 100 percent.”

Meow!

Embarrassing moment of the Tour: the Tour organization played the Danish national anthem, not the Spanish one, when Contador was on the stand.

Although everyone has known that the relationship between the two men had always been tense even before the Tour when Contador joined Astana (not knowing Armstrong would join later and challenge him as team leader), neither has openly come out against the other . . . until now. Read Lance Armstrong’s tweets.

Contador wins Tour de France 2009, Cavendish wins Paris stage

esme — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 16:22:33 +0000

Quite a dramatic finish today in Paris for the Tour de France 2009! Cavendish won the final stage in Paris, as his team, Columbia, outwitted Garmin once again. Cavendish should have won the green jersey but he was penalized a few stages ago, thereby giving Thor Hushovd the lead. Still, Cavendish won six stages which is more than any other British rider.

Final standings:

1st – Contador; 2nd – Andy Schleck; 3rd – Lance Armstrong

King of the Mountains (red peas jersey): Franco Pellizotti

Best young rider (white jersey): Andy Schleck

Best sprinter (green jersey): Thor Hushovd

Best team: Astana

Schleck brothers do well in stage 17 of Tour de France 2009

esme — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 15:43:57 +0000

The Schlecks are doing well. Frank Schleck won stage 17 (Bourg-Saint-Maurice to Le Grand-Bornand, very hilly) and his brother, Andy, came in third. Alberto Contador, who ended up in 2nd place, still wears the maillot jaune. Poo Denis Menchov crashed several times. He’s not having a good Tour de France this year even though he won the Giro d’Italia. Tomorrow’s individual time trial will be a very interesting one indeed.

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 . . .

Vinokourov also plans comeback in 2009

esme — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 02:48:52 +0000

Alexandre Vinokourov, the disgraced Astana rider from Kazakhstan, who was kicked out of the Tour de France last year for blood doping, says he wants to race again in 2009 for his old team, Astana. Vinokourov had “retired” from cycling, but perhaps Lance Armstrong’s coming out of retirement must have inspired him to do the same. Vino says he won’t ride the Tour but perhaps the Giro d’Italia. Alberto Contador, who has also recently joined Astana, prefers Vino to Armstrong.

“Contador thinks teaming with Armstrong would be trickier to manage than with Vinokourov, whose return still has to be cleared by the International CyclingÂ Union . . . Contador described his working relationship with Armstrong as “very good” but said having two riders fighting for the same Tour title would create a “delicate” situation within theÂ team.” (from IHT)

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.

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.