Lance to Astana

Its official: Lance Armstrong will ride for Astana next year. His first race will be in Australia at the Tour Down Under.

Does anyone else see the conflicts ready to come to full boil? When asked how he felt about Lance riding for Astana, Levi “Wheel-sucker” Leipheimer’s response was: “I don’t want to talk about it.” Recently, Alberto Contador, fresh off a victory in the Vuelta, was asked for his feelings on Armstrong riding for Astana. His response: “It would be quite complicated. I think I’ve earned the right to be the leader of a team without having to fight for it. And with Armstrong, there could be difficult situations in which the team would put him first and that would harm me.” As my daughter would say…”Ouchy!”

Who wants to ride with Lance? Certainly not Contador. And he shouldn’t ride with Lance. He should leave Astana and ride for a team that will make him the sole leader for the grand tours. Leipheimer whines about everything so I completely discount his response.

See, Armstrong NEEDS to win the Tour de France in 2009. Because he is on a team with a completely transparent doping policy, he is finally rid of the suspicion that he won by unethical means. If he doesn’t win the Tour, even though he’s old and hasn’t ridden competitively for three years, the Eurpoean press will crucify him.

Good thing its Lance Armstrong. With this guy, second place is not an option. Provided Astana gets an invitiation to the 2009 Tour, Lance will win.