Team Astana presented its lineup for the 2010 season last Saturday at the Hofburg Redoutensaal in Vienna, Austria, with two-time Tour de France winner Alberto Contador as the undeniable star of the show.

Contador, however, denied that he is the favorite to wear the yellow jersey for this year’s Tour de France, although he did admit that winning his third title of the said event is his main goal for this season.

The Spanish rider looked focused, happy, and physically fit for the season as he posed for photographs with his Astana teammates during the presentation. When asked about Lance Armstrong, his former teammate last season, Contador replied that the American rider is also one of the favorites, and will be a close rival. He seemed happy, though, that the Texan is no longer part of his squad.

Team Astana had a multi-talented squad of riders last year, with Lance Armstrong…

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22 teams will be seeing action in the upcoming 2010 Paris-Nice, which will begin on March 7 in Montfort l’Amaury and end one week later on March 14 in Nice.

Alberto Contador will have a chance to redeem himself as Team Astana is one of the invited teams scheduled to compete. Contador, a two-time Tour de France champion, has been harboring bitter memories of his last year’s Paris-Nice performance, when he reportedly ‘bonked’ during a critical stage and lost the overall lead which he had grabbed in earlier stages. Luis Leon Sanchez ended up as the winner.

Sylvain Chavanel is expected to race for Team Quick Step. He won stage 3 last year and finished 2nd overall, so he poses a powerful challenge to anyone looking for the title this year.

Teams Milram and Footon-Servetto will not be joining the event, however, since both teams failed the automatic…

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Two-time Tour de France winner Alberto Contador is ready for the 2010 season, and says that he’s stronger than he was last year. “I see the power in my computer, and I see also (the power) of the last year, and this year is better,” he said. He also spoke about his change of bikes, from Trek to Specialized: “The main differences that I’ve noticed are that it (S-Works Tarmac SL3) seems like a much stiffer bike — so much so, that it can take a couple of days to get used to it.” He also says that he’s motivated by the competition for this year, and his first race will be Portugal’s Tour of the Algarve. “I think, in July, I will have a strong team to back me in the Tour de France,” he said optimistically.

Via Velo News….

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Two-time Tour de France champion Alberto Contador has announced today that he will be starting his 2010 season with Portugal’s Tour de Algarve in February. “Last year I liked the race and I think it’s ideal to start the season. After that, I’ll go to the Paris-Nice (beginning of March) where we’ll be mainly looking to work on a team level, concentrating on tactics and coordination. In 2009 I won at Algarve, but this year I’m going to take it relatively easy, although I always like to be good at racing and I want to start,” says Contador, who won the Tour de Algarve last year too. He said that he also wants to participate in the Tour of Catalonia in March and the Tour of the Basque Country in April. He’s got a plate full of stage races for this year, but one-day…

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The ongoing personal conflict between seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong and two-time Tour winner Alberto Contador does not seem to be slowing down at all. In fact, it seems to be getting worse, as Contador apparently spread lies throughout the Spanish media. Armstrong thinks that the fame has gone to Contador’s head: “If you have just won the Tour for the second time and you are the king of Spain, it is normal that all stories are all right. His career has barely begun. Let us talk again in about fifteen years.” And of the rumors going around the media: “So many dirty things, unbelievable. Complete bulls***, pieces of slime, fat lies.” About the time trial tires rumor: “First, this is not true. Secondly, it is easy to prove. You only have to grab the phone and call the bicycle manufacturer Trek. I…

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Johan Bruyneel recently addressed claims made by two-time Tour de France winner Alberto Contador, saying that he didn’t receive the “technical support” he needed during last year’s Tour. He said earlier this month that he had to go to a bike shop to buy the time trial tires that he wanted for the 2009 Tour. Bruyneel, in an online chat at El Mundo, said that the statements were not at all true. “The members of the team, and above all, the leaders of the team, all had the same material. The truth is I am not sure where this information came from. I can guarantee you that they all had the same material,” he said.

Via Velo News….

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Two-time Tour de France winner Alberto Contador received the UCI’s world ranking award today as the best rider of the year. “I think this has been my best year ever, in terms of results rather than other circumstances, given the constant tension and pressure to which I was submitted,” says the 27-year-old Spaniard. “It has been the most important year of my life on a sporting level,” he adds after receiving the award from the UCI’s president, Pat McQuaid. Contador now says that he’s “exited and motivated” about winning his third Tour. “The fact that there is no team time trial should clearly help us. What concerns me more is the cobbled roads, I hope we can get through that. It will be important to avoid falls that can ruin the race,” Contador says.

Via Velo News….

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