Contador considers offers for 2010

Two-time Tour de France winner Alberto Contador has four different contract offers for next season, despite one-year remaining with current team Astana. One of the offers is a 16-million four-year contract extension with his current team, Astana.

Teams Garmin-Slipstream, Caisse d'Epargne and Quick Step have offered contracts, a source close to Spain's Contador told AFP yesterday. Contador favours the offer from Spanish team Caisse d'Epargne, reported AFP.

Caisse d'Epargne is the home of Spaniard Alejandro Valverde and has signed Italian classification rider Marzio Bruseghin for 2010.

Contador has one more year in his contract with Kazakhstan's Astana and the team said he would remain for 2010. Contador, 26, said in recent months that he would rather leave the team.

Kazakh Alexander Vinokourov helped create the team from the former Liberty Seguros team in 2006. He blood doped during the 2007 Tour de France and served a subsequent two-year suspension. He returned to racing last month with team Astana, but his presence might create rivalries with Contador and difficulties for a 2010 Tour invitation.

Caisse d'Epargne and Belgium's Quick Step have room for a classification leader, but USA's Garmin already has Christian Vande Velde and Bradley Wiggins. Wiggins finished fourth in the 2009 Tour and Vande Velde fourth in the 2008 Tour.

Contador won the 2007 and 2009 editions of the Tour de France. Organisers refused to invite Astana to the 2008 edition, but he raced and won the two other Grand Tours: the Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a España.

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