Alberto Contador’s time trial bike drama didn’t seem to bother him today in stage 5′s time trial. He took second in the stage and secured his overall victory in the Tour of the Algarve. Luis León Sánchez won the stage with a time of 21 minutes, 32 seconds. Contador was 13...

It’s been a full week for me and I’ve been pulled in numerous directions. Of course we have the Olympics in full swing, which has kept me captivated during prime time, the Team Type 1 training camp and banging out interviews with their riders, the Volta Algarve showing how well...

Is 2010 going to be the year of bad kits? RadioShack needs a new design, Astana is still using poor color combinations and Sky’s is as creative as a middle school art project. What is going on out there? Is this a sign that everyone, even team staff, is racing clean and are now...

It’s official— after ALBERTO CONTADOR requested the support of Specialized Bicycles in his bid to win his third Tour de France, the California brand will be the complete bike sponsor for Team Astana in 2010. In a video conference with Specialized Founder and President, Mike Sinyard,...

I wrote this piece just before the Tour de France for the Astana website in response to the organizer’s ban on race radios in two stages. Now that the topic has resurfaced as the UCI is proposing phasing out two-way race radios. While there hasn’t been a time line established when...

“Do you want to ride with Levi?” It was Astana’s media relations guy asking me what I assumed was a rhetorical question. At the time Levi Leipheimer was the two time winner of the upcoming Tour of California, a Grand Tour podium finisher, and a decent enough guy. All I had to do was be...

The Tour de France is only behind the Olympics and World Cup soccer in the terms of eyeballs watching. So the Tour has become a showcase for sponsors to unveil new products. All the big teams are either on new bikes, aero clothing, or new components and the Astana team is no different. Behind...