KZBlog

Now that Team Astana has Alberto Contador, the Tour de France champion, Johan Bruyneel, the former coach of Discovery, and now Dirk Demol also of Discovery, it makes sense that rumours are flying that Lance Armstrong will join the team in 2009. However, all that Lance is saying is that he will return to cycling in order to raise money for an international campaign against cancer. In a video clip on the Lance Armstrong Foundation website he says that the rumors are true; he is returning to race in 2009 after consulting with his family and friends. But he makes no mention of teams saying only that on Sept. 24th he will make a more detailed announcement at the Clinton Global Institute. I’m sure that speech will be picked up by all the news outlets and we will know the truth.

If Armstrong is being silent on which team he will join, Team Astana has announced that they are not interested: “He is no part of our team,” Astana team press officer Philippe Maertens said. “Team Astana has no plans with him.” Mark Higgins, Armstrong’s manager, is not commenting on the matter.

Velonews, which first announced that a source close to the cyclist said Armstrong would join the Kazakhstan team, based in Belgium, says that Armstrong will not take a salary or bonuses and that he plans to compete in the Amgen Tour of California, Paris-Nice, the Tour de Georgia, the Dauphiné Libéré and the Tour de France. Not taking a salary does fit with the goal of raising awareness of cancer and, presumably, raising money for cancer research.

Team Astana was started by the Kazakhstani cycling champion Alexander Vinokuorov in 2006 after his teammate Manolo Saiz was arrested for doping. However ironically Vinokourov himself was accused of doping in 2007. He received a one year suspension but subsequently retired from cycling. However the involvement of Team Astana in doping scandals, particularly links between team members and Dr. Eufemiano Fuentes, led to its being banned from the 2008 Tour de France. Since then Bruyneel has introduced a new anti-doping system and even fired Vladimir Gusev for showing “abnormal values” in a blood test. These more stringent measures may win Team Astana a new reputation.

Still as a cyclist who has also been plagued with accusations of doping, Armstrong may be hesitant to join Team Astana. Luckily in 2 more days we should all know if the rumors are true or not.