As Team Astana Turns or Can Lance and Alberto get along?
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- December
- 3
By PAUL LOGOTHETIS, AP Sports Writer, TENERIFE, Canary Islands (AP) _ Tour de France champions Lance Armstrong and Alberto Contador trained together Wednesday for the first time since the American came out of retirement to join the Astana team.
Armstrong and Contador were paired in one of three groups of riders, though the Spaniard left the training session after about an hour to attend an awards ceremony in Madrid.
Armstrong has been on the bike every day since the Kazakh team opened its weeklong camp on Sunday. Contador was limited to the gym for the first two days after undergoing surgery on a blocked nasal passage 10 days ago.
While Contador’s preparations for the upcoming season have been set back by the surgery, Armstrong is attempting to overcome a three-year layoff.
The seven-time Tour champion has already shown that his physical fitness probably won’t be an issue.
“He’s one of the best, probably in the top-three in the team for the moment,” Astana press officer Philippe Maertens, said of Armstrong’s general fitness. “But that doesn’t mean anything here, outside of competition.”
The 37-year-old Armstrong confirmed he would race for his eighth Tour title next summer after competing in the Giro d’Italia for the first time in his career in May.
But Contador, the 2007 Tour champion and team leader, wants to defend his crown after Astana was banned from competing in last year’s race due to past doping allegations. The 25-year-old Spaniard has been less than enthusiastic about Armstrong’s signing since it could threaten his pursuit of a second Tour title.
“I feel very motivated and I can’t wait for the season to start, just like the rest of the team,” Contador said after his first training session on Tuesday. “The best thing about this camp is that it gives us a better chance to know each other.”
This entry was posted
on Wednesday, December 3rd, 2008 at 4:51 PM by Randall Wolf. 
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