The 2010 Tour de France winner Alberto Contador has announced that he is to leave Astana at the end of this season.

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The Spaniard’s contract with the team has come to an end and he has decided not to renew it despite being offered new terms.

The three-time winner of the world’s biggest cycling event does not have an alternative offer on the table as yet with a statement saying that Contador “will calmly study all of the possibilities on offer for the coming season."

He is not likely to be short of suitors especially seeing as he won the recent Tour despite being far below is usual standard - something that the rider himself admitted after the conclusion in Paris.

His controversial rejection of cycling etiquette - when he took advantage of rival Andy Schleck’s mechanical malfunction during Stage 15 - left a bad taste in the mouth but not enough to deter any potential sponsors or ambitious team owners from signing the Spanish sensation.