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Contador unfazed by Lance
2010-01-31 17:21
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Vienna - Tour de France champion Alberto Contador insists the thought of having seven-time winner Lance Armstrong as his main rival in this year's race is not keeping him awake at night.
The Spaniard, Tour champion in 2007 and 2009 and Tour of Italy and Spain winner in 2008, believes he will have more than the American to deal with.
Contador overcame tensions within Astana, the team Armstrong joined last year to make his comeback to the sport, to win the 2009 edition thanks to crushing performances in the mountains and final time trial.
Armstrong battled to finish third, and then promptly announced the creation of a new team, Radio Shack, that he hopes to lead to victory in 2010.
Although an outright Contador v Armstrong clash is mouth-watering, the Spaniard said he believes it may not be the only one on the horizon.
At Astana's team presentation here Saturday, Contador said he believed there could be up to 10 real challengers for the race's prestigious yellow jersey.
"Of course Lance will be one of my rivals this year but I'm more relaxed," said the 27-year-old, who finished last year's race over four minutes ahead of Luxembourg's Andy Schleck.
"I'm not the only big favourite. There's a group of around eight to 10 riders who could throw their hat in for a victory at the Tour."
Armstrong, third at 5:24 last July, boosted his chances of an eighth Tour win by taking the bulk of last year's Astana team with him to Radio Shack, including American Levi Leipheimer and German Andreas Kloden.
Although an almost unrivalled climber and a strong time triallist, the big question supporters of Contador will want to ask is whether his team, which now includes disgraced Kazakh star Alexandre Vinokourov, are up to the job.
Vinokourov returned to cycling last year following a two-year ban for doping. He and the entire Astana team, when it was under different management, were thrown off the 2007 Tour de France.
Vinokourov said there was only one objective on the team's mind: "The aim is to win the Tour de France for Astana and show that, with Alberto Contador, we are the best team in the world," he said.
"I think that with his talent and my experience, I can count on him to succeed."
Former Tour winner Oscar Pereiro, who was on the brink of retirement before he joined Astana with five other Spaniards, said there is no doubt who they will be racing for.
"When Alberto is in this team, all riders work for Alberto, this team is Alberto... and others," Pereiro, the 2006 Tour de France winner, joked to journalists.
"He's the best rider of the world and for the other riders, it's a motivation."
From a total of 27 riders Astana counts 13 Kazakhs, seven Spaniards, three Italians, two Australians, as well as one Ukrainian and a Slovenian.
Contador has one year left on his contract with the team, which he unsuccessfully tried to leave after his second Tour triumph.
For now, he is giving nothing away about possible future destinations.
"It's only January. There's a big possibility that I will stay longer with Astana. But there are other possibilities," he said.