Ullrich foretells leadership problems at Astana

Jan Ullrich applauded the potential return of Alexander Vinokourov to the peloton, but said he could envision problems at Team Astana, with Alberto Contador, Lance Armstrong and others fighting it out to be team leader.

"I think it is right that 'Vino' comes back, because everyone deserves a second chance," the 34-year-old former rider said to Eurosport. He also believed that it was right for the Kazakh to join Team Astana, because, "after all he helped bring the team to life. Those are his people.

"But I can imagine, that there could be problems within the team," Ullrich continued. "In my eyes, Contador should be the leader. It wouldn't be right to set Armstrong ahead of Contador."

There are also other riders on the team to consider, such as Levi Leipheimer and Andreas Klöden. They must "divide the races up among themselves. They have to work that out internally, otherwise there will be problems."(SW)