Yet another rumour began circulating today around the future of Tour de France champion Alberto Contador, this time over the bike he might ride in 2010. Reports on Italian website tuttobiciweb.it claimed that Specialized bicycles – currently providing bikes to the Quick Step and Saxo Bank teams – might be negotiating a deal with Astana. The website implied that this would mean dropping Quick Step.
In response to the rumour, it was quickly denied by Quick Step’s communications manager Alessandro Tegner.
"With regards to the Astana cycling team I do not know,” Tegner said to tuttobici.it, “but for sure the Quick Step team will race with Specialized until 2011, as the team headed by Patrick Lefevere has a legal contract.”
Quick Step has been one of the team’s reportedly in contract negotiations with Tour de France winner Alberto Contador, and it was rumoured recently that Specialized had offered to help fund what was to be a multi-million Euro contract. This latest rumour appears to be an extension of that, implying that Specialized now wants Contador on its bikes so badly that it would switch teams to get him.
With contracts with both Quick Step and Saxo Bank, it would be a huge commitment, even for a company the size of Specialized, to sponsor a third ProTour team.