Tour Leaders Leave Their Teams
Alberto Contador, the winner of the 2010 Tour de France, announced his separation on Wednesday from Team Astana, with whom he took two of his three Tour victories.
“We have never put any pressure, we have always acted according to his will,” explained the management of Astana. “His decision to leave does not depend on us but on other outside proposals. We respect his choice, and wish him good luck."
Frank and Andy Schleck have followed suit and officially announced that they will be leaving the Saxo Bank team and separating from their long-time manager Bjarne Riis, though this trade has long been expected. The riders will be participating in the formation of a new Luxembourg-based team for the 2011 season.
"It's official that we will not be riding with Bjarne next season," said Andy to Cyclingnews. "We're not going to stay. We're going to leave at the end of the year. All the doubts and news about us racing in the same team as Contador are now finished. We're not going to continue."
Riis also announced that Saxo Bank will be ending their involvement in professional cycling and that he has found a new sponsor for the team. Kim Anderson also left the team, citing her intention to be involved in the creation of a new team. Brian Nygaard, who was involved with the foundation of Team Sky and had worked for Riis before that, left the British team, inspiring speculation that he may be working with the Schleck brothers.
"The economic foundation for the team for next year is in place and now that I have hired Kim Andersen as senior director of sports, the sports management is also as strong as it can be,” said Nygaard. “We may not yet say anything concrete about the sponsors or riders who will ride for our new team."
Andy Schleck made the announcement public after completing a criterium in Luxembourg. He had been riding for Riis since 2004, while his older brother Frank had been with him since 2002.
"It's been a fantastic five years for me and eight for Frank and I learnt a lot in that time. I'll still stay friends with Bjarne but this is the end of the road for us as a team, said Schleck.
Riis is allegedly working a deal with Specialized, an American company with whom Contador has a personal sponsorship deal. The Spaniard is in the market for a new team, and Specialized could facilitate his move to Riis’ restructured team. Time-trial champion Fabian Cancellara is also in talks with Riis, and the pair could end up filling the void left by the Schleck brothers as the team leaders.
"Specialized have invested in Contador and they can guarantee him being the face of their brand in the same way that Armstrong was the face of Nike,” said the Astana team director.
Team Astana is similarly trying to fill a void, and has signed Robert Kiserlovski, formerly of Liquigas, to a two-year deal after his top-10 finish in the Giro d’Italia.
"I will benefit from having time to adapt,” said Kiserlovski. “For the first season I will be at the service of a team leader and then we will see."
Connections have also been speculated between Astana and Tour de France podium finisher Denis Menchov, riding for Rabobank. Stage-winner Alexandre Vinokourov is the virtual team leader now, though Menchov could challenge his position.
"We did all we could for Alberto for three weeks by sacrificing ourselves for him. I only hope that he didn't take the decision before the start of the Tour," said Vinokourov.
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