Back in Spain, Contador knocks Lance Armstrong

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Interesting to read now that he’s back in Spain, Tour de France champion Alberto Contador has gone public with what he thinks of former seven-time winner and ostensible Astana teammate Lance Armstrong, who finished third in this year’s race.

Meanwhile, while Tour de France officials are cautiously optimistic that this Tour ended with no doping scandals and none on the horizon, French anti-doping president Pierre Bordry isn’t as certain. He thinks there are new ways to beat the tests, some 14 of which Armstrong alone was subjected to during the three-week Tour.

And Armstrong said on Twitter this morning that he was leaving France and headed for a beach. Probably not for long though. Watching Armstrong chat up practically every cyclist in the peloton on Sunday’s final ride into Paris (well, every one but Contador), it seemed as if Armstrong was taking names, numbers and e-mail addresses to use in recruiting riders for the new Radio Shack team. Also Armstrong’s competitive season isn’t over yet. He plans to race Aug. 21-23 in the Tour of Ireland.

-- Diane Pucin