Tour de France Follow Up

A few weeks back, I made this post about happenings at the Tour de France that included telling about the financial problems the Tour's premiere team, Team Astana, was having. Team Astana member Alberto Contador went on to win the Tour with teammate Lance Armstrong finishing third. Right after that post was made, Armstrong announced he was starting his own team for the 2010 Tour de France and the team's primary sponsor would be Radio Shack. Immediately, speculation started regarding who would join Armstronng's team and what would happen to Team Astana.

Once Armstrong made his announcement and the Tour was over, Contador and Armstrong started taking shots at each other in the media. The Contador-Armstrong war of words would make the spoiled brat drivers of NASCAR proud. Contador said “My relationship with Lance Armstrong is zero. He’s a great rider and he did a great Tour. Another thing is on a personal level, where I have never admired him and never will.” Armstrong fired back on Twitter (what does that tell you?) with "“Hey pistolero, there is no ‘I’ in ‘team’. what did I say in March? Lots to learn. Restated. Seeing these comments from AC . If I were him I’d drop this drivel and start thanking his team. w/o them, he doesn’t win. A champion is also measured on how much he respect his teammates and opponents.”

It's still up in the air as to what team Contador will ride for next year, but one thing is for certain, he won't be Armstrong's teammate. Contador is still under contract to Team Astana thru 2010, but wants out. According to this L.A. Times blog, Team Astana, which is sponsored by the Kazakhstan based Astana Group, has no intentions of letting Contador walk. So, while Armstrong starts his own U.S. based team, the Spainard, Contador, may be forced to worship the hawk for another year. But, no matter where Contador ends up, the 2010 Tour de France looks to be a soap opera that could be aired in the place of the The Guiding Light or Days of Our Lives for three weeks.