Alexandre Vinokourov has decided to put any plans of retirement on hold, and will continue in the peloton next season. According to the French cycling federation website, the rider has signed for one more year with the Astana team, of which he also has a management role.
The 36 year old returned to competitive cycling in August 2009 after a two year ban for blood doping. He had worked hard during his suspension and quickly got back up to speed, taking three time trial victories. The wins were in the Tour de l’Ain, the Asian cycling championships and the Chrono des Nations.
Vinokourov picked up the pace this season, netting fifth overall in the Tour of the Mediterranean, winning a stage plus the overall classification in the Giro del Trentino, and then stunning the peloton with victory in Liège-Bastogne-Liège. That led to a very mixed reaction from fans and media, with some applauding his swashbuckling style, but others pointing out that he had never admitted wrongdoing after his positive test and showed little remorse.
A mea culpa of sorts came after his strong performances in the Giro d’Italia, where he picked up ten top-ten placings, wore the Maglia Rosa and finished sixth overall. That tacit acknowledgement of wrongdoing helped ensure a ride in the Tour de France where, true to his word, he helped team-mate Alberto Contador win his third Tour. Vinokourov also grabbed a solo stage win into Revel and finished sixteenth overall in Paris.
He came out of the race in strong form and was runner up to Luis Leon Sanchez (Caisse d’Epargne) in the Clásica San Sebastián.
Vinokourov had suggested that 2010 could be his last in the peloton but now it appears that he will stick around for another twelve months of competition. Aside from chasing more results for himself, he may be aiming to have a hands-on approach as the Astana team readjusts after the departure of Contador, Benjamin Noval, Jesus Hernandez and Daniel Navarro to Saxo Bank-Sungaard.
The team is yet to announce who will replace the 2010 team leader, but the Schleck brothers, Denis Menchov and Roman Kreuziger have all been mentioned as being on Vino’s wish list. Whoever arrives, he’ll also have the drive to aim for his own wins, lighting up races with his caution-to-the-wind attacks.