Astana Cycling Team

Alberto Contador in Paris-Nice

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“The important thing was to win to get the bonus”

Alberto Contador did the forecast and won in Mende, a short and explosive climb  where proved to be the strongest climber in the race. Alberto repeated the victory in this same scenario in 2007, when he ended up winning the race in Nice. At the finish line, the differences were small, 10 seconds over Valverde and Samuel Sanchez, although linked to bonuses, place Contador as the new leader, 24 seconds over Valverde, 25 on Kreuziger and 28 on Luis Leon Sanchez. “The important thing was to win to get the bonus”, confirmed Alberto.
“The choice was to try to win and make differences, but above all to win, to get the bonus. Everything worked out as expected”, said the Astana’s leader, who went solo a little over one and a half kilometer from the arrival. “I had to start from afar and have chosen to regulate the maximum. The advantage is not great, but what mattered was the win”.
Alberto said have felt good during the ascent, “but not super, super. I had to do much effort to place well and you always paid this in the last kilometers. But yes, I had good legs, but had some concerns about how rivals respond, although I have feel quite well during the whole stage”. Read the rest of this entry →

Read the rest of this entry →

Giuseppe Martinelli (Photo by Kahane)

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Alberto Contador in Paris-Nice

“I hope the legs will be good tomorrow also”

Alberto Contador crossed the finish line in Aurillac on sixth position, after going to the front in the last little climb, just over a kilometer, but enough to get a handful of seconds at the finish line on almost all favourites.
The day began with a snowstorm that forced the organization to shorten the stage on  50 kilometers, although the hardness of the day was not reduced too. “It was a day marked by the cold”, Contador confirmed. “They have shortened the race on 50 km due to snow, but at the end we could do the stage, but always marked by the cold”.
“There was a small climb on the end, almost anything”, said Contador, “just over a kilometer, but is that the cold hurt and the group has been cut in several parts”. The leader of Astana, however, was ahead, showing that the blow on the left leg is almost forgotten. “The legs responded quite well for now and I hope tomorrow they will be good too”, said Alberto, referring to the finish in Mende.
“Rather than try, was a matter to avoid lost time”, he said about his performance today. “I was able to do, but in the sprint I've touched a columbia’s rider (Tony Martin) and I had to drag the foot along the road until I came back to get it into the pedal. I hope that those seconds were resolved”, he concluded.
After studying the video of the arrival, however, the race judges ruled that there was no reason to change the classification, where Alberto Contador, sixth, lost 2 seconds over the time of the winner and won 4 with respect to the main group. Alberto is now in seventh place overall, 20 seconds behind Jens Voigt, who took the leader over Lars Boom.

(Automatic translation. Forgive inaccuracies).

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Jacinto Vidarte
Jefe de Prensa / Press Officer

The co-leader of the Astana team will be departing tomorrow, Tirreno-Adriatico (where he finished 3rd in 2007) while Alberto Contador held the other scene since Sunday on Paris-Nice. Alexandre Vinokourov who began his 2010 season at the Tour Mediterranean in France, relies heavily on the Italian event to sign a comeback.
The Kazakh is the point.

Is the race Tirreno-Adriatico your real season start?
It represents a lot to me because if I used to run in Paris-Nice last few years, I have not forgotten that 3 years ago, I finished 3rd in this race. This year is even more special, I feel like starting a new career by participating in Tirreno.

And you feel motivated as a junior.
This is indeed the case. For two years I had not experienced the joys of a season. These are moments that I want to enjoy fully because I know there won’t be so many to come.

Your goals have changed?
I am realistic, I am not anymore twenty years old and I know that my best years are behind me. But this is not because I'm 36 years I'll give up. If I have decided to continue my career it’s because I know I still have things to do on a bike.

What are your goals?
I do not want to settle down. It is also the privilege of age, to say that I have nothing to prove. Everything I do from now on will only be a bonus. In French, we say that this is the cherry on the cake, that's it, everything I earn from now will be good to enjoy. Read the rest of this entry →

Alberto Contador in Paris-Nice

“To continue on race is assured”
Alberto Contador managed to finish today an especially difficult because he had to overcome the consequences of yesterday's crash, which left him quite touched his left leg. After the 200 miles between Contres and Limoges, the balance is positive, because the danger of being lost is gone. “To continue in the race is assured”, confirmed Alberto from the Astana hotel.

“The day has been more or less as expected”, said Contador. “I knew it would be a difficult day in which he was not going to pedal either by the blow, but as I've been heating up ever better pedal”.
Still, however, does not feel at ease. “I could not bring my natural pedaling”, he said, “but I could save a long day and now I have to work with the ‘masseur’ to see if in two or three days I can be perfect”.
Alberto said he has already passed the risk of abandonment. “I think so, I not go home, because today was the most important test. I've also been able to finish and I could be ahead, so that I’ll continue on the race is assured”.
Contador takes this race as a training for the Tour, because of its hardness. “We are doing very high speed average and there is great tension throughout the entire stage. We must be alert at all times, so it's like a training session ahead of July's Tour”.
Finally, Alberto said that, until now, “the rider who I think is the strongest is Jens Voigt. While many are going well, he is on who I paid more attention”, he said.
(Automatic translation. Forgive inaccuracies)

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Jacinto Vidarte
Jefe de Prensa / Press Officer

Alberto Contador in Paris-Nice:

“What worries me is the hit in the leg”

The second stage of Paris-Nice was a tough test for Alberto Contador, who suffered a fall in the last 3 km in which he got a big hit in the left thigh. “What worries me is the hit in the leg. It’s very touched and that I'm still hot. I hope to continue in the race tomorrow”, he said shortly after crossing the finish line.
“It was just tenths of a second”, said Contador. “I was on the left riding relatively normally when someone was hooked and pull me to the left. I've completely broken the front wheel and I've given a good hit”.
Quickly Stangeld gave Alberto his bike and tried to get the bunch. The fall came very near to the last 3 km and at the finish, the judges said that the fall had already happen into the the distance, so that while Contador was able to catch on their own, anyway he was given the time group, which came 17 seconds behind the winner.
Contador complained about the heavy blow. “The problem is the blow to the muscle, which is what may affect my performance but I hope to start tomorrow”. About de gap, he said it was "a pity to stay behind, especially for my team, because all day we've been in the front and we have been very attentive the whole day”.
Alberto Contador now expected to “analyze the situation in the overall, but the truth is I do not care about those 17 seconds that has caught the front group, but the consequences of the fall. It would have been better not to lost time, but more important is to see how I recover”.



(Automatic translation. Forgive inaccuracies).

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Jacinto Vidarte
Jefe de Prensa / Press Officer

Alberto Contador finished the opening time trial of Paris-Nice six seconds off  stage winner Lars Boom and tied with Levi Leipheimer. “It’s true that winning wasn’t possible, but that’s not what’s most important, because I’m very happy with my performance,” he said.

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“Hitting tempo at the outset cost me a little and it had an impact on this time trial, but later I was pretty comfortable. I didn’t manage to win, but that’s even better considering the team, because we have less responsibility,” said Contador. “There are other riders who are very strong, but I also got some important time on people like Chavanel, Schleck and Valverde.”

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The time trial had a section of cobblestones at the beginning, but for Contador it wasn’t significant. “It’s always different than if it was a smooth road, but it didn’t have much effect on the race, because it was a short section. Besides,” he concluded, “I felt pretty comfortable on it.”

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(Official press release, Alberto Contador press office)

Contador 8-3-10