Is There Dissension On Astana Team ?

Astana has shown itself to be clearly the best team in the Tour de France this year. They have not only won the team time trial, but they have a significant lead in the team standings. They also have four riders in the top ten of the overall standings. Most race followers, including myself, believe the tours winner this year will be either Lance Armstrong or Alberto Contador -- both of Astana.

But in stage seven, Contador did a rather silly thing. After the team had worked their hearts out to keep him and Armstrong in contention for the lead, he took off near the finish line and picked up a few seconds on the leaders -- putting himself in second place two seconds in front of Armstrong, instead of being 19 seconds behind him. Those few seconds are pretty meaningless in the larger scheme of the race (there's still two weeks to go), but it has created some tension on the team.

Contador's action is viewed as being selfish, and his actions were discussed in the team meeting before stage eight. Contador needs to be careful. I don't think the team really cared whether it was him or Armstrong who wins the Tour, but whoever wins it will need the help of a strong team. Astana is trying to set the both of them up as the race's leaders and then let them duke it out in the Alps in the race's last week. But if Contador doesn't want to be a team player, he could find the team either split or backing Armstrong. He can't afford either option.

Fortunately, it looks like he understands the situation. He followed instructions and stayed with the team in stage eight. Astana stretched out the field on the last climb, but then decided the breakaway didn't contain anyone they need to worry about and let up. The peloton came back together before the finish and Italian rider Nocentini gets to keep the yellow jersey for another day. He won't have it at the end of the race though.

Today's winner was Spaniard Luis Danchez (pictured) of Caisse D'Epargne, but he was not able to pick up enough time to put him among the leaders. Stage eight is the last mountain stage in the Pyrenees, and the race won't get to the Alps for another week. Stage nine has a catagorey 1 climb and a very difficult unrated climb, and we can expect the climbers to use these to move up in the standings as far as possible. Meanwhile, Astana will probably use a vicious pace to put Armstrong and Contador further in the lead.

Here are the current standings:

YELLOW JERSEY (OVERALL LEADERS)
1. Rinaldo Nocentini (AG2R)
2. Alberto Contador (Astana)..........0.06
3. Lance Armstrong (Astana)..........0.08
4. Levi Leipheimer (Astana)..........0.39
5. Bradley Wiggins (Garmin)..........0.46
6. Andreas Kloden (Astana)..........0.54
7. Tony Martin (Columbia)..........1.00
8. Christian Vande Velde (Garmin)..........1.24
9. Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank)..........1.49
10. Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas)..........1.54

GREEN JERSEY (SPRINTERS)
1. Thor Hushovd (Cervelo)..........117 pts
2. Mark Cavendish (Columbia)..........106 pts
3. Gerald Ciolek (Milram)..........66 pts
4. Jose Rojas (Caisse)..........65 pts
5. Fabian Cancellara (Saxo Bank)..........55 pts

POLKA DOT JERSEY (CLIMBERS)
1. Christophe Kern (Cofidis)..........59 pts
2. Egoi Martinez (Euskadi)..........54 pts
3. Brice Feillu (Agritubel)..........49 pts
4. Christophe Riblon (AG2R)..........46 pts
5. Sandy Casar (Francaise)..........43 pts

TEAM STANDINGS
1. AG2R
2. Astana..........0.03
3. Columbia..........4.45
4. Milram..........5.20
5. Saxo Bank..........5.24