Today, the UCI ProTour commission has approved Astana’s registration. This means that they will have a ProTour license for 2010, and that they will be able to retain the two-time Tour de France winner Alberto Contador. The team almost went under due to late payments this season. The UCI also demanded that they get a bank guarantee of the finances. “Looking forward to the 2010 season, the UCI requested the Kazakh team to provide an additional bank guarantee so that the regrettable situation in 2009 would not be repeated and so that the request for the withdrawal of the Astana licence would not have to be reactivated,” says the communique. “This request is not connected in any way to the registration procedure for UCI ProTeams …but to the request for the withdrawal of the Astana licence that would have to be reactivated if the bank…

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This past Thursday, the UCI (International Cycing Union) announced that Astana, among a few other teams, had failed to provide all the information needed for a ProTour license. Under UCI rules, riders of teams that have yet to get a license by October 20th the preceding year are free to break their contracts without fear of consequences. Two-time Tour de France winner Alberto Contador is one of those racers, but it seems as if he’s made a commitment to stay with Kazakh cycling team Astana. A spokesman for the Kazakh federation says:

“We’re continuing to work closely with Mr Alberto Contador who should meet with Mr (Yvon) Sanquer, our future general manager, and Mr (Giuseppe) Martinelli, the future sporting director, in the coming days.”

He adds:

“With him (Contador) we’re preparing the 2010 season so that he can have a competitive team around him to take up…

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This Thursday, the UCI (International Cycing Union) released a list showing all of the ProTour teams that have made the requirements for a 2010 license. Five teams did not make the list, and one of those is Astana, the team of two-time Tour de France winner Alberto Contador. According to the UCI regulations, riders of teams that have not submitted the correct files for registration may terminate their contracts with no consequences. Contador has stated that he wishes to leave Astana. Where will he go from here? There’s no telling, but Quick Step, Caisse d’Epargne and Garmin-Slipstream have all shown interest in Contador. Stay tuned for more news on this issue!

Via BikeRadar….

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Lance Armstrong‘s new team, RadioShack, gets awarded a four-year ProTour license by the International Cycling Union, or UCI. The license is good for 2010 through 2013, and it allows them entry into all ProTour events. The RadioShack team will begin racing in January at the Tour Down Under in Australia. Other possible early races for Armstrong and RadioShack may be the Tour of Murcia, La Fleche Wallonne, Paris-Nice, and Liege-Bastogne-Liege. The confirmed members of team RadioShack so far are Levi Leipheimer, Sergio Paulinho, Janez Brajkovic, Chris Horner, Bjorn Selander, Sam Bewley, Markel Irizar, Jose Luis Rubiera, Daryl Impey, Ivan Rovny, Ben Hermans, Gert Steegmans, Yaroslav Popovych, and Grégory Rast.

Via CyclingNews….

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