24 Oct 2009

Contador seeking legal advice before quitting Astana

7:23 am on 24 October 2009

Tour de France champion Alberto Contador is waiting for legal advice before deciding whether to break his contract with his Astana team.

Contador is under contract to Kazakh-funded Astana until 2010 but has repeatedly said he would like to leave to join a team with the capacity to support him in a bid for a third Tour de France victory next year.

The UCI recently published a list of teams who had been granted a ProTour licence, which gives them the right to take part in the biggest races.

Astana, along with Team Sky, Caisse d'Epargne, Saxo Bank and Euskaltel Euskadi, were not on the list, although they have until November the 20th to meet the UCI's requirement for a ProTour licence.

The governing body's regulations state that a rider is free to go if his team has not had their licence renewed by October the 20th.

The UCI and Astana were not immediately available for comment.

Contador, who is one of five riders to win the three Grand Tours -- France, Italy and Spain -- has been contacted by Quick Step and has also expressed an interest in the Garmin-Slipstream and Caisse d'Epargne teams.