Poll: Who is going to lead Team Astana at Tour de France?

Lance Armstrong peers from the cover of the VeloNews Tour de France Guide: “7-time champ and his team of superstars defy all challengers.”

Alberto Contador looks out from Cycle Sport America: “Don't mess with the Spanish stage race superstar.”

It's only 1-1/2 weeks until the beginning of this year's Tour de France in Monaco on July 4, and it's still unclear whether Astana will start the race with an absolute team leader. If you were in charge of Astana and facing this decision, who would you pick? See the poll at right.

Strangers

Although they're teammates, Contador and Armstrong have hardly ridden together. They were in the pelton together for the Castilla y Leon briefly until Armstrong crashed out with a broken collarbone.

Ivan Basso has been quoted that Armstrong will be the “rampaging beast” of this year's Tour de France. However, he sees no potential for conflict between Contador, Armstrong and Levi Leipheimer because team manager Johan Bruyneel knows how to run teams in the Grand Tours.

Meanwhile, Contador says he considers Armstrong and Leipheimer to be among his main rivals in the Tour.

Team named

Armstrong has 7 Tour de France championships, but has been retired for 3 years. Contador has won three Grand Tours, including a Tour de France, in the past 18 months.

Who would you pick for the boss?

Team manager Bruyneel has chosen six of the nine team members for the Tour de France. They are Armstrong, Contador, Leipheimer, Andreas Klöden, Yaroslav Popovych and Haimar Zubeldia.

Among the remaining three to be decided are Chris Horner, Jani Brajkovic, Benjamín Noval, Dmitriy Muravyev, Sergio Paulinho, Gregory Rast and Tomas Vaitkus.

Some have ridden more with Armstrong this year, and others have competed with Contador in early races. Team members might be more apt to follow their loyalties regarding team leadership.

I'd expect a lot of drama within Astana during this Tour de France.