Alberto Contador has committed for two years to the Saxo Bank Sungard team, but Team Caisse d’Epargne chief Eusebio Unzue has made it clear that the Spaniard is part of his long-term plans for the new Team Movistar setup.
“Next year we will push the core of what has been Caisse d’Epargne this season, with David Arroyo and, probably, Luis Leon Sanchez,” Unzue told El Pais.
“By 2012, we will again have Alejandro Valverde. And, of course, my aspiration is still to sign Alberto Contador. This year the sponsorship has come too late, as Contador has already been committed to Bjarne Riis, but by 2013 he will be free.”
The 27 year old Spaniard has been in talks with the Caisse d’Epargne management since last year, and also spoke to those running teams such as Garmin Transitions and Quick Step. He said then that his preferred option was to leave Astana, but he was ultimately unable to break the contract that was in place.
One year on, the Astana deal was coming to an end, but so too was the Spanish team’s backing by the French bank Caisse d’Epargne. This meant that Unzue was left in a position where he was putting all his energy into fighting for the team’s future, rather than being able to chase cycling’s Tour champion.
The announcement this week that the Spanish telecommunications giant Telefonica would step in and back the team from next season moves Unzue back into a position of influence, but the timing was simply too late to be able to chase Contador.
In the meantime, the rider signed with Team Saxo Bank owner Bjarne Riis for two seasons. He has said that one of his goals is to try to win cycling’s three Grand Tours in one season, a hitherto impossible task. Contador has said that he won’t try to reach that target in 2011, but that he would consider it after that point.
Unzue has helped guide Pedro Delgado and Miguel Indurain to a total of six Tour de France victories, and would jump at the chance to work with Contador on that goal.
In the meantime, he’ll concentrate on dealing with the riders he has, chasing big results and building toward what he hopes will be an eventual Spanish homecoming for the world’s number one rider.