Days after Alexandre Vinokourov revealed that Astana is interested in signing Roman Kreuziger, the talented 24 year old Czech Roman Kreuziger has confirmed that he has been given an offer by the Kazakh team.
"I can confirm what Astana said in recent days, because my manager has received a proposal,” he wrote on his personal website. “We are considering it but haven’t come to any conclusions. Negotiations are ongoing and I should know more in the coming days.”
He’s still a very young rider but has already won the 2008 Tour de Suisse, the 2009 Tour de Romandie, and finished ninth overall on two occasions in the Tour de France. Given that most riders improve until they are 28 or 29, it is reasonable to expect that he will be fighting for major victories in the years ahead.
Kreuziger said that he needed to weigh things up, but recognised that moving to a new setup could provide him with fresh motivation. “I personally would not prevent change,” he said, thus confirming that he could leave the Liquigas team.
The Astana team is shopping around after the departure of its previous leader, Alberto Contador. The Spaniard has signed for Saxo Bank, freeing up an estimated five million euros in cash, but also enforcing the need for the team to try to find another rider, or group of riders, who can contend for the Tour de France title.
Vinokourov has also expressed an interest in Denis Menchov and the Schleck brothers, but it is not known if they will take him up on that. Andy and Frank Schleck have been linked to the new, unnamed Luxembourg team, but have not yet revealed where they are likely to go.
Kreuziger has time to weigh things up as he is not training particularly heavily at the moment. He’s recharging his batteries after the Tour de France and has been spending time at home in the Czech Republic. “I'm back in training, riding my bike every other day for about two hours,” he said. “Now I've got a couple of days in the Czech Republic, but on Sunday I will probably go back to Italy.”