Contador said to be close to decision

November 10th, 2009 by Ron Callahan 420 views No Comment

If you read the headline over at BikeRadar.com, you might think that Alberto Contador has already made his decision, but the text of the article goes on to say that the decision will likely come in the next several days.

If you recall, we said yesterday that Astana reportedly offered the Tour de France champion 32 million Euros over 4 years to stay. Contador’s brother and manager are denying that amount, but told the Spanish media that if he was to stay with Astana, it would only be for a year and that it would be for less than 4 million Euros. Astana had previously offered Contador a new contract that would run through the end of 2011 that was said to pay him 4 million Euros per year.

There are also reports today that the Quick Step team has offered Contador a contract totalling 20 million Euros for 4 years. Quick Step’s equipment sponsor, Specialized, was said to front some money to the team to help sweeten the deal.

It would appear that Alberto will wait to see the decision of the UCI’s Pro Tour license committee before making any decision. The committee is said to make their final determination about the Kazakhstan-based team by November 20th.