There were a number of interesting occurrences in the Astana team's launch on Friday. Chief among them was the complete absence of Alberto Contador in the team's video presentation recapping the 2010 season, and that was capped off by the controversial Kazakh star, Alexandre Vinokourov's, announcement that 2011 will be his final year in the professional ranks.
Contador seems to be all but stricken from the record within the team according to AFP. Much like the Tour de France's presentation in 2007 completely erased Floyd Landis, Astana did the same in 2011.
Vinokourov was blunt about the team's actions and said simply: "We decided to do it like this, because it's a new season that is about to begin."
After a stern statement of forgetting the former Astana rider, who tested positive for clenbuterol in last year's Tour and is now looking at a one year suspension, the Maglia Rosa wearer for a few days at last year's Giro took the opportunity to announce that 2011 will be his last.
If Vinokourov does in fact call it quits after this season, it will have been a short comeback for him. Vinokourov spent two years out of cycling following a positive test for blood doping at the 2007 Tour de France where he managed a dominant time trial victory as well as a second success in the Pyrenees. The Kazakh winner of the 2006 Vuelta returned at the end of the 2009 season at the Tour de lain and immediately returned to his aggressive ways. A reasonable finish to the 2009 season gave way to typical Vinokourov success in 2010: victory at the Giro del Trentino, victory at Liege-Bastogne-Liege, and a successful Giro d'Italia.
Despite the fact that Vinokourov appears to have lost nothing physically, he feels that the coming season will be his swan song, and in his final year, he hopes for one thing: a spell in yellow.
"It's my last season in cycling, and I'd like to wear the yellow jersey for a few days. It's a dream that I can achieve even if each year it gets harder and harder," said this past year's winner of Liege-Bastogne-Liege.
The 37 year old feels that his time is up in the sport. He doesn't think that he's past his prime so much, as he doesn't have the fire that made him one of the most feared attackers in cycling throughout most of the 2000's.
"I can't race until I'm 40. Now it's time to leave all the work to the younger riders. I could continue to ride on my reputation, to win for the money, but what I want is the hunger to win races."
In Vinokourov's absence, the young talent of Kazakhstan and abroad will get their opportunities to shine. Vinokourov recognizes the growing tide of possibilities and says that, "it represents a dream for all the young riders in our country."
Astana is certainly not lacking in funding. AFP reports the team's budget to be in the 15 million euro range. A chunk of that went to the squad's new general classification hope, young Roman Kreuziger. The Czech talent spent all five seasons of his professional career with Liquigas, but decided to move on in 2011 and opted for Astana.
At the team presentation in Monaco today, Kreuziger underlined his satisfaction with the call to pursue his future with Astana.
"After five years with the same team, I wanted to rediscover some stimulation. With the experience of Vino and Giuseppe Martinelli, this was the best choice."
Vinokourov and Kreuziger will headline a strong team in 2011. It will be interesting to see how both riders fare this year - one in his final season, and one still just beginning it and without question on the road to greatness.