Today was the day where it was expected we would learn the fate of some of the biggest names in pro cycling. Take a deep breath and follow along...
Despite a great head-to-head duel in the Tour, rumours have swirled around Alberto Contador and Andy Schleck. Despite the "Chaingate" controversy, the two riders are fairly close friends, as seen by the Specialized commercial (which i wont post since it's been played by OLN about 250 times in July), and the picture below.
The cycling transfer period is a funny thing. It happens right after the Tour, when the season is really only 2/3 complete. Many of these "transfer deals" happen before or during the Tour, which i dont understand. It would like if free agents in the NHL negotiated deals with other teams during the Stanley Cup playoffs. Regardless, it has been rumoured for months that the Schleck brothers would be leaving Saxo Bank and starting their own Luxembourg-based team. It has also been announced that Saxo Bank would not be sponsoring a team moving forward, leaving Bjarne Riis and whatever is left of his team without two of their biggest names (he still has Cancellara potentially) and without their main sponsor.
That is, until today. Riis held a press conference this morning where he announced that not only was Saxo Bank going to stay on-board as a co-sponsor with Sungard for 2011, he had signed Alberto Contador to a two-year contract! Yep, Riis decided that since he can't beat Contador, he might as well sign him to his new team. It is expected that most of Contador's Spanish teammates (Noval, de la Fuente, Hernandez, and Navarro) will join him in jumping ship from Astana to Saxo Bank-Sungard.
Ok, where does that leave the Schlecks? They appear to be fine, as their new team has apparently a 20 million dollar budget, which would make it the richest in the pro peloton. So the Schlecks can apparently shop for some top dollar talent to help them compete against their old team. We still dont know what their team will be called but we should soon.
What about Astana? They lose not only their Grand Tour winner and arguably the greatest cyclist on the planet, will lose a lot of their domestiques, and their other marquee name, Alex Vinokourov, is expected to retire at the end of the season. However, they are already circling around the Tour's bronze medallist, Denis Menchov, to make him their GC contender in 2011. So not to worry, the ugly teal jerseys will not be far from the front of the peloton...
More transfer news coming soon, but I did want to highlight what a couple of Canadians did this weekend at the Canadian Track & Field Championships, held in Toronto. Arguably the two biggest stars in Canadian Athletics went head to head in the womens 100m hurdles. Here's the video of Perdita vs Priscilla...
As you can see, a great start by Priscilla Lopes-Schliep got rivaled by a great finish by Perdita Felicien, who won by 0.03 seconds. Great run ladies, as their rivalry continues to flourish. They should hopefully keep it up right until London 2012, which is now less than 2 years away! For Perdita, it was Canadian title #9!!!
More news - the same night that Simon Bairu posted a decisive win in the men's 10000m to defend his 2009 title in 28 minutes and 49 seconds, he decided to announce where he will make his marathon debut. His choice: New York City. Can Bairu break the Canadian record that is older than he is? We shall see on November 7th...
More later...
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