Alberto Contador's brother/manager says he's close to re-upping with Astana, but nothing would surprise him.
The brother of Alberto Contador says the two-time winner will likely stay with Astana in 2010, but no longer.
Fran Contador, who acts as manager for his younger brother, has told the Spanish media that it appears more likely than ever than Contador will ride in an Astana jersey, quickly adding that it would only likely be only to fulfill the final year of his existing contract.
“The possibilities that he stays with Astana are very high due to the difficulty of breaking the contract, but there is still nothing decided,” Fran Contador told Biciciclismo. “We are closer to Astana, but nothing is certain. If Astana receives a ProTour license, the chances that Alberto stays are very high. If not, Alberto and the rest of the riders can go. Above all, the situation can change one day to the next. Since the Tour, nothing surprises me anymore.”
Contador confirmed that if his brother does stay with Astana, it would be only to fulfill the final year of deal with the Kazakh-backed team. He also confirmed that Quick Step, Garmin-Slipstream and Caisse d’Epargne remain options.
Realizing that the Astana option is looking more likely, Contador said they recently met with the new Astana management to get a sense of what is going on with the turbulent team.
“It’s looking difficult to break the contract, so we sat down with them and they presented us their project,” he said. “It’s a good impression and they’re working hard. Yvon Sanquer (team manager) is interested in doing things right and move the project forward, even though there’s still a lot to do and the UCI still has to make a decision about the ProTour.”
Contador also shot down reports that Astana had offered his brother an astronomical deal worth $10 million per year for four years.
“That’s incredible. It has nothing to do with reality. I don’t know what’s behind this leak,” he said. “It surprised me that this news made it into a lot of important media outlets without any foundation at all. It’s as crazy as if Alberto Contador was going to sign with Contentpolis-AMPO.”
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