Contador free to go?
 

Appears to be the case...

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/asta...dor-free-to-go

So what's everyone's guess?

Will he choose Quick Step, Caisse d'Epargne or Garmin-Slipstream?

I say he goes to Garmin

That's what it looks like. We'll see in the next week or two, maybe.

I'm thinking Quick-Step. If he goes to Caisse then he'd risk another season sharing the spotlight, and Garmin isn't exactly his style. I think that the rulings a little ambiguous, but he has the agent-brother of his... he'll get out of it.

[The standard UCI rider/team contract (2.15.139 article 8.1.f) states, "if, on 20 October of the year preceding a year of registration covered by the present contract, the UCI ProTeam has not submitted a registration file containing the essential documents," the rider may terminate the contract "without notice or liability for damages".]

That pretty much reads like AC is a free man if he chooses to terminate, assuming he has that standard language in his contract.

I'd bet on him going to Caisse d'Epargne. Of course, Caisse still has to get its license in order for that to happen.

If I was him, I'd go to Garmin... but, I don't think he will. I expect to see Caisse d"Epargne pick him up. There are enough races on the calendar that he can share the spotlight with Valverde - presuming that Valverde doesn't get suspended.

more details:

http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/20...y-be-used.aspx

Caisse d'Epargne. Valverde is no Tour winner, neither is Perreiro. Would Garmin have enough money to snag Alberto? Any other Spanish riders on Garmin? Alberto seems a bit insecure; he'd want some compatriots.

If Quick Step signed Alberto would they bother sending Boonen to the Tour? Difficult to support a sprinter and a gc rider; didn't ever work for Silence-Lotto.

Worked OK for TeleKom, at least once or twice.

If Contador can get out of his contract on this basis, then I would imagine so can Andy Schleck and any other member of the teams that missed the deadline (assuming identical contract language).

Best team for a guy like that is Cervelo Test Team. An aging Sastre and a deep support team are perfect for him... don't think they have the pockets to get him, though.

There is still a question of if this relatively new UCI rule can apply to Contador because he signed his contract with Astana before this rule was put into place. Under normal circumstances the original contract would hold. I think his best hope is that Astana can't get everything into place by november 20th. In which case Astana would lose their pro tour license.

Boonen claims he is going to try to come in next season as more or a TT specialist instead of a sprinter. If so, he would be an asset to Contador and wouldn't necessarily distract the teams efforts if they weren't trying to lead out a sprinter every stage.

I agree. But will Sastre relinquish his leadership willingly? Quick Step looks like the team best suited for Contador to the extent that they don't have a genuine GC contender. That might not work to Contador's advantage though - the team doesn't look strong enough to support him.

Clearly, you didn't pay any attention to this year's Vuelta a Espana. Valverde is a clearly a GC contender in a grand tour.

AC is going to be the #1 rider on any team that he goes to other than Radioshack. The only there is only one rider in the world that would not willingly give up leadership to Contador at this point. And his name ain't Sastre. Most of the pro tour teams will be strong enough to support him in a grand tour. Especially if there is no TTT. In the end, winning the grand tours comes down to individual climbing and TT'ing.

Money will probably be the biggest factor in who can sign him.

He probably meant a TDF-like Tour. The field in the Vuelta wasn't as strong.

The Giro and Vuelta aren't real tours.

I recall Sastre saying that the TDF would not be his focus next year.

No it looks like the UCI has spoken...

He is free to go:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/uci-...n-leave-astana

Isn't Caisse d'Epargne one of the 5 teams whose riders can go anywhere now?
http://www.examiner.com/x-1155-Cycli...ing-wars-begin

Quick Step is the logical choice if Contador rules out Radioshack. Would be a coup for Garmin if they can afford him. Contador can rake in the cash, but is the team he chooses strong enough to keep him on the podium?

ha, ha. contador is tired of being a pawn so the sooner he gets out of the vino-controlled
astana nonsense, the better. can caisse afford both he & valverde & the pro tour license
on top of that? they haven't exactly dotted the i's financially. what's taking them so long?
plus, they don't have the payroll of a continental team, regardless of transfers. something tells
me that valverde is going to miss italian & french races for at least a year. if valverde
survives his current troubles unscathed, what a one-two punch that would be! part of me would
love to see contador step out of his comfort zone and go to quick-step but he's been out of
his comfort zone with astana/discovery the last couple of years. can you imagine
alberto doing a couple of classics? flanders & liege? if a schleck can do it...
garmin would possibly be the most stable teammate-wise and i like vaughters as a ds or
gm or owner or whatever but it is still american-based. caisse is the fallback pick here...

If he rules out Radioshack? He would rather stay with Astana. If even considers Radioshack expect to see Dor Serling dressed as the devil on all TDF Mountian stages.

Why in the world would he even consider Radioshack? Didn't you even watch this year's TdF? He'd probably choose Astana over Radioshack at this point. Astana is a longshot to even be around next year. And its highly unlikely that AC is going to want to have anything to do with LA and JB anymore.

Bullllllll
Vuelta maybe, but Giro? aww hell no! You need to speak to some Italians my friend...
I don't think Caisse would be deep enough to support Conta. Cervelo went with both Thor and Sastre so I don't see why QuickStep couldn't do the same with Boonen and Conta. Radioshack? also crazy talk, nay krazy talk. Garmin... I just don't see it happening, maybe if Wiggins goes to Sky, but you still have Zabriskie and Zirbel and CVV etc. QuickStep. Think about it.

Keith was agreeing with you.

Astana and RadioShack are two teams he definitely won't be riding for.

Yeah, I was actually responding more to this post:

"Quick Step is the logical choice if Contador rules out Radioshack. Would be a coup for Garmin if they can afford him. Contador can rake in the cash, but is the team he chooses strong enough to keep him on the podium?"

Should have quoted it instead.