Tour de France third place Denis Menchov will be heading east next year, either to Kazakh sponsored Astana or Russian sponsored Katusha, he confirmed in an interview with Russian newspaper Sport Express. The 32-year-old Russian, nicknamed “the Silent Assassin”, has been riding for the Rabobank team since 2005 but has been courted by a number of teams this season as his contract is due to expire.
Menchov has an appointment with Katusha team manager Andre Tchmil, the paper reports, but the Russian rider is keeping his options open. “I have been in negotiations with Astana,” he confirmed, “Katusha and Astana are my primary options.”
Since joining the Rabobank team, Menchov has won the Vuelta a España twice, in 2005 and 2007, and the Giro d’Italia once, in 2009. He has also finished third in the Tour de France on two occasions, in 2008 and 2010, although the first of those was achieved after the disqualification of original third place Bernhard Kohl.
His only previous team was the Spanish Banesto team, now known as Caisse d’Epargne, which he joined as a trainee in 2000. Whilst there he won the Tour de l’Avenir in 2001, the white jersey for the best young rider at the Tour de France in 2003, and the Vuelta a Pais Vasco in 2004.
Menchov is a natural target for both teams. Astana is losing its biggest name Grand Tour rider as Alberto Contador joins the Saxo Bank-Sungard team and needs to replace him. Katusha is billed as the “Russian Cycling Project”, but currently relies on foreign riders like Spaniard Joaquin Rodriguez, Italian Filippo Pozzato and Australian Robbie McEwen for many of its high-profile results. The addition of Menchov would give the Russian team the big-name Russian rider that it surely needs.