All of your cycling news – November 16, 2009

Astana asks UCI for license help, Bernhard Kohl opens bike shop, Contador on Specialized for 2010 (team TBD), Portal walks in Sky’s door and more….

• Astana reportedly talked to the UCI today about issues surrounding their Pro Tour license application.
• Bernhard Kohl has opened a bike shop in Vienna, Austria. It is said to be the largest shop in the capital city, with an area of 1100 square meters.
• Austria’s national anti-doping agency has announced that convicted athletes will have appear in criminal court.
• Niels Albert took the win over the weeked in Asper-Gavere, the race where he crashed last year and ruptured his spleen. Despite his win, he said that Sven Nys was the stronger rider (that day) and that he would have won had it not been for a puncture.
• Niels Albert has a new teammate. 27 year old Italian Enrico Franzoi has signed a contract with the BKCP-Power Plus team.
• Fabian Cancellara is eyeing the Hour Record. The current mark is 49.7 km and is held by Ondrej Sosenka.
• Tucked deep within the rumors around Alberto Contador are some hints that he would like to see Ivan Basso join Astana. Basso is under contract to Liquigas through the end of 2010.
• Also in the news today was that Contador signed a 700,000 € contract with Specialized to ride their bikes in 2010. No specific mention was made of Specialized providing bikes to the Astana team, but its safe to assume that the team will be riding something other than Treks next year. Some say that this indicates Alberto will stay with Astana, but leading suitor Quick Step rides Specialized bikes as well….
• Chris Anker Sörensen (Saxo Bank) has received a warning from Denmark’s anti-doping agency for not having made himself available during an out of competition doping test last summer.
• The Spanish-AMPO Contentpolis team has denied reports that his future was in jeopardy due to financial problems. Team management says that they will ride in 2010 and the confusion was only due to a delay in getting the proper documentation to the UCI.
• Dr. Roberto Corsetti, President of the Italian Medici Cycling organization, has issued a retraction to the report he issued earlier in the year that was said to show that Contador was using performance enhancing drugs during the Verbier climb during the Tour de France. It turns out that he calculated the slope of the climb incorrectly, leading him to think that Contador put out inhuman amounts of power.
• Cedric Vasseur has resigned the presidency of the International Association of Professional Cyclist to “devote himself fully to his professional projects”. He served from October 2007, when he retired as a professional.
• The Frenchman Nicolas Portal (Caisse d’Epargne) has signed a one year contract for the new British team, Sky. He joins his compatriot Sylvain Calzati, who left the Agritubel team for Sky. Also, Mathew Hayman left Rabobank after 13 years to join Sky.

Tags: alberto contador, astana, Bernhard Kohl, Caisse d'Epargne, Cedric Vasseur, Fabian Cancellara, Ivan Basso, Liquigas, Mathew Hayman, Niels Albert, Quick Step, Rabobank, Saxo Bank, specialized, Specialized Bikes, Sven Nys, Sylvain Calzati