Astana releases short list for Tour roster
- By Andrew Hood
- Published Jun. 15, 2009
Astana has revealed its short list for the upcoming Tour de France.
Fifteen riders are vying for nine spots on the Astana tour squad, which will be anchored by returning seven-time Tour champion Lance Armstrong and 2007 Tour winner Alberto Contador.
Also all but assured of spots are Tour podium finishers Levi Leipheimer and Andreas Klöden.
Other riders on the Astana list are Haimar Zubeldia, Maxim Iglinskiy, Dmitriy Muravyev, Chris Horner, Benjamin Noval, Sergio Paulinho, Yaroslav Popovych, Janez Brajkovic, Gregory Rast, Tomas Vaitkus and, despite problems with his whereabouts, Assan Bazayev.
Astana team spokesman Philippe Maertens told VeloNews a final decision about the team’s nine-man roster would be made after the Tour de Suisse later this month.
Maertens also said Klöden is also cleared to compete in the Tour despite allegations made by ex-pro Patrik Sinkewitz that the two-time Tour podium finisher was involved with alleged blood doping practices during the 2006 Tour.
A report was released last month commissioned by the Freiburg University, with a three-person panel concluding that two team doctors – Lothar Heinrich and Andreas Schmid – conducted a blood-doping program within the Telekom and T-Mobile team.
Maertens said Astana has reviewed the report, but found no reason to exclude the German rider from the Tour.
“We saw the report to the commission and the only thing about Klöden is that Sinkewitz said he went to Freiburg. All the other 60 pages are financial and scientific data and there’s not a word about Klöden,” Maertens said. “It’s the German press who’s making a story out of it. As long as there’s nothing proven, we cannot punish him. He said he’s not involved.”
Andrew Hood
Hood cut his journalistic teeth at Colorado dailies before the web boom opened the door to European cycling in the mid-1990s. Hood's covered every Tour since 1996 and has been VeloNews' European correspondent since 2002. He lives in Leon, Spain, when he's not chasing bike races.