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Contador says he'll leave Astana if Armstrong joins outfit


JAIME REINA / AFP/Getty Images
Spain's Alberto Contador celebrates Sundayat the podium as winner of "La Vuelta'
mutliple stage race.

MADRID, Spain - If Lance Armstrong joins the Astana cycling team for his
comeback, then Alberto Contador is ready to leave.

"I think I've earned the right to be the leader of a team without having to
fight for my place," the Spanish rider said Tuesday in AS newspaper. "And with
Armstrong some difficult situations could arise in which the team would put him
first and that would hurt me."

Contador, the 2007 Tour de France champion, won the Spanish Vuelta on Sunday.

"My intention is to stay (at Astana) because I have a contract until 2010, but I
have already received a good number of offers from other teams," he said.

Armstrong announced this month he is returning to cycling after three years in
retirement and would attempt to win the Tour de France an eighth time.

Armstrong is to discuss his comeback in New York on Wednesday. Astana would be
the logical team for Armstrong to join. Astana team leader Johan Bruyneel was
Armstrong's team director for all seven of his Tour victories, and the two are
close friends.

Astana spokesman Philippe Maertens declined to comment Tuesday on whether
Armstrong would join the team.

"The team will say nothing before Armstrong explains himself," he said.

Bruyneel has said he could not imagine Armstrong riding for anyone else.

"On the basis of what he says, we'll make a decision," said Contador, who, like
Armstrong, plans to skip the Italian Giro and Vuelta to concentrate solely on
the Tour.

Armstrong has yet to announce which events he'll enter before the Tour. He'll
hold a news conference Wednesday during a four-day meeting held by the President
Clinton's foundation. Armstrong, who has used his celebrity to raise awareness
about the fight against cancer, will address a panel of world leaders earlier in
the day.

Contador said he got no help in his Vuelta victory from American teammate Levi
Leipheimer, who finished 46 seconds behind the 25-year-old Spanish rider.

"It's not normal that someone working for you finishes less than a minute off in
the general standings," Contador said. "If (the next-to-last stage time trial)
had been 20 kilometers more who knows what would have happened."


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