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Contador expects tough 2010

Madrid  - Tour de France champion Alberto Contador expects a difficult year in 2010 after opting to stay with a weakened Astana team.

The Spaniard had a turbulent 2009, marked by a prickly relationship with team-mate and seven-times Tour winner Lance Armstrong, and opened negotiations with other leading outfits.

He eventually decided to not to break his contract with Kazakh-funded Astana, with runs to the end of 2010, but told Spain's Marca newspaper on Wednesday his chances of winning a third Tour next year were limited.

"I am realistic and I know that I have a weaker team than in previous years and for that reason we'll have to work hard on motivation in training so that we know what we can achieve and how to do it," said Contador, who turned 27 on Sunday.

"I know that it will be a difficult year and it's possible I won't be able to win the Tour even if I am in good shape," he added. "People will be focusing a lot on me but my rivals know that the team I will have is not the same as before."

Armstrong and Astana team manager Johan Bruyneel are forming a new team, RadioShack, for next season, and Contador confirmed his relationship with the American had never been easy.

"That's nothing new," he told Marca.

"I am thinking about the 2010 Tour, not the 2009 one, even though I admit he pushed me to the limit in all areas, psychologically and physically," he said.

"But it helped me a lot to mature and I hope to exploit that experience next year."

Contador said his programme in 2010 would be similar to past years and he did not plan to compete at May's Giro d'Italia as it would be asking too much so close to the Tour de France, which gets under way at the start of July.

He said he may take part in the Vuelta a Espana depending on his performance in France.

Looking further ahead, he did not rule out staying with Astana beyond 2010.

"We'll have to see how everything goes because Astana could be a great team and I decide to stay, even though I may also change teams or set up my own, something that would be highly motivating but would tax my energy."

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