As predicted Alberto Contador’s win at the Vuelta on Sunday is already proving complicated for his team Astana. Speaking to the Spanish newspaper AS Contador dropped a strong hint that he would quit the Astana team if it hires Lance Armstrong, who has announced he is coming out of retirement to seek a record eighth Tour de France title. Armstrong has strong links with the current Astana management. Contador was asked by the sports newspaper AS how he would feel if the Armstrong joins Astana. "It would be quite complicated. I think I’ve earned the right to be the leader of a team without having to fight for it," he said in the interview published on Tuesday. "And with Armstrong, there could be difficult situations in which the team would put him first and that would harm me." Armstrong, now 37, shocked the world of cycling earlier this month by confirming that he was planning an audacious comeback with a view to winning a record eighth Tour de France next summer. Astana boss Joahn Bruyneel, who managed Armstrong as director of the US Postal and Discovery Channel teams, said recently he would "not allow" the American to join another team. Contador who has now won three grand tours in 14 months – a feat which guarantees him legend status now says he may quit the Kazakh-backed, Luxembourg-based team if Armstrong signs on, the American will announce his plans at a press conference on Thursday. "I will base my decision on what he says," the Spaniard told AS. "I intend to stay because I am under contract until 2010, but I have received a good many offers from other teams. "Bruyneel believes I can deliver results, but it can’t be denied that he made his name because of his ties to Armstrong." Contador won the Tour of Spain on Sunday to add his victories in the 2007 Tour de France winner and this year’s Giro d’Italia. He is now only the fifth rider in history, and the first ever Spaniard, to win all three of cycling’s three-week Tours. A feat that in most situations would guarantee him an unassailable position in most teams, but Armstrong is different. Contador’s comments to AS are very different from those he made immediately after Armstrong’s announcement and suggest his Vuelta win has emboldened him into letting his true feelings on the Armstrong situation be known. Back on 10 September when asked about Armstrong’s return he said: "I would welcome (Armstrong) into the team with open arms because a cyclist like him would fit in anywhere," "I have always had the highest regard for him and would be delighted to be in the same team as him."
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Update: Contador may quit if Armstrong joins Astana- Armstrong to join Astana
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@ymm In my view, lax sentencing of dangerous drivers, especially where cyclists are involved, makes the judge, jury and CPS complicit in UK driver culture. This driver is a sociopath.
@Mr Blackbird i reckon the libido is a bit overrated. I'd let that go rather than a limb or a nice bike.
There are a number of armchair prosecutors on this site who happily heap criticism on the CPS for the decisions they make, sometimes deservedly so. I note that none of them have so far applauded the over worked, under paid specialist prosecutor at the regional Complex Casework Unit who successfully took this to trial. It would have been easy to accept guilty plea to a lesser charge, but she didn't - thank you.
The force also noted that almost all of these serious collisions occurred in 30mph zones where, police claim, “drivers feel most comfortable and familiar in their local area”. Yes, my neighbourhood is a 30mph zone, and the residents have become so comfortable and familiar with it that they feel comfortable with exceeding the limit with regular aplomb, parking in the most ridiculous of places and overtaking parked cars into the path of oncoming vehicles (despite those vehicle having bright lights) 🙄
@Rendel Harris I'd like to see a lifetime driving ban. I may be disappointed...
Not when it's in this country. It's a muck fest. I'd rather avoid having to destroy my drivetrain every ride as it gets coated in peanut butter mud.
Hedley avoided a jail sentence “by the narrowest of margins”. Still the same outcome, and even more infuriating...
When commenting on the length; a picture of the full leg, or at least to the knee, would be helpful.
@eburtthebike two lives ruined, but one by choice...
@Rendel Harris yep, that would have looked interesting! I think we all know though that at the first downpour it would actually turn into a canal, given the usual standards of drainage on cycling infrastructure! It would also make it more difficult to cycle to destinations on Oxford Street, rather than just through it. I'm thinking a wide median, with planting, lighting, seating, maybe a few public toilets and of course plenty of Sheffield stands for bicycle parking. With one-way cycle lanes either side.