The peloton's tire tracks were still fresh on the Champs Elysees as Alexandre Vinokourov announced he had taken a spot with the Liberty Seguros team.
The BBC reports that Vinokourov will lead the team (7th in team competition), which floundered in the recent Tour behind Robeto Heras (45 overall) and Joseba Beloki (75th overall). (Results at CyclingNews.)
The 31-year-old cyclist from Khazahkstan appeared to have a rocky relationship with T-Mobile during the Tour de France, which ended Sunday.
He clearly didn't have the support of the team — he was chased down on one occasion by teammates in the peloton; and at times it seemed he hadn't signed on with the plan that Jan Ullrich was the team leader. Why would he attack Ullrich in the first place?
To his credit, Vino was one of the Tour's most interesting competitors. Vinokourov yo-yoed from 5th overall before entering the Alps to 16th after a very bad day on the climb to Courchevel. He won the very next stage, which included the Col de Madeleine and Col de Galibier, announcing, “I'm far from being out of the race.”
He continued clawing his way back up the standings, finally recapturing 5th after beating the sprinters in the final day of the race.
Maybe Vinokourov, with team support, can regain his previous form. He finished 3rd in the Tour in 2003. The absence of one cyclist next year, Lance Armstrong, will put him that much closer to the yellow jersey.
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