Andreas Klöden is looking to leave Team Astana, his manager Tony Rominger has told L'Equipe, and added that it had been a "mistake" to sign with the Kazakhi team. Klöden was forced to leave the Tour de France while sitting in fifth place overall when his team-mate Alexander Vinokourov tested positive for an illegal blood transfusion.
Klöden came to the Kazakh-led team from the German T-Mobile squad, a team which was negotiating for his renewal at the time. "Andreas would have done better to accept T-Mobile's offer last year, but hindsight is always better," Rominger said.
Rominger added that the German "will be able to find a new employer. He is interested in a well-structured team." He denied that T-Mobile had come to offer his old job back. "There is no contact yet with T-Mobile," Rominger stated.
Klöden may not be the only Astana rider looking for a job. Team manager Marc Biver has been summoned to appear before the UCI later this month, with speculation that the team could lose its ProTour license because of its doping problems.
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