http://topics.cnn.com/topics/feeds/rss/AstanaFind stories, videos, and photos about Astana from CNN.com.en-usCable News Network LP, LLLP.Thu, 26 Nov 2009 02:45:11 GMT5http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/img/1.0/logo/cnn.logo.rss.gifhttp://topics.cnn.com/topics/feeds/rss/Astana14433Find stories, videos, and photos about Astana from CNN.com.http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/austin_murphy/07/22/tour/index.htmlhttp://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/austin_murphy/07/22/tour/index.htmlLE GRAND BORNAND, France -- Worst kept secret at this Tour de France: Astana general manager Johan Bruyneel will announce tomorrow that he intends to start a new team next year, backed by American sponsorship and led by Lance Armstrong.Wed, 22 Jul 2009 21:59:00 EDThttp://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/austin_murphy/07/13/tour.update/index.htmlhttp://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/austin_murphy/07/13/tour.update/index.htmlWell, that was a trifle anticlimactic, no?Tue, 14 Jul 2009 16:18:00 EDThttp://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/austin_murphy/07/10/contador.armstrong/index.htmlhttp://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/austin_murphy/07/10/contador.armstrong/index.htmlRecall, if you will, Bernard Hinault's terse message to Lance Armstrong five years ago, after the Texan drained much of the suspense from the 2004 Tour de France by winning his third straight alpine stage. "No gifts," declaimed the Badger. Implicit in those words: a pro bike race is a knife fight, not a bridal shower. There is no place in it for charity or sentimentality or mercy. No gifts. Lance-o-philes loved it so much they put it on a T-shirt.Fri, 10 Jul 2009 20:29:00 EDThttp://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/austin_murphy/07/02/preview/index.htmlhttp://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/austin_murphy/07/02/preview/index.htmlTwo weeks before the start of the 96th Tour de France, 1,870 days after his last pro victory, Lance Armstrong soloed to first place in the Nevada City (Cal.) Classic, a brief but brutal 40-lap circuit in the Sierra Nevada foothills. Asked afterward about the upcoming Tour, which starts Saturday in Monaco, the Texan poor-mouthed his own chances, pointing to Astana teammates Alberto Contador and Levi Leipheimer as clear favorites. After those two, he went on, "they got an old man like me to come around and pick up the pieces."Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:01:00 EDThttp://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/austin_murphy/02/25/lance.armstrong/index.htmlhttp://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/austin_murphy/02/25/lance.armstrong/index.htmlJust because he's lean and ripped and far more fit than he's ever been at this time of year, Lance Armstrong won't necessarily regain the form that won him seven Tours de France. Just because those questions about his past have faded from the foreground, they haven't necessarily gone away. And while none of them care to be quoted, there are plenty of cycling people who wish he'd leave and not come back. He is a magnet for attention that might otherwise redound to more deserving riders -- guys like his Astana teammate Levi Leipheimer, who on Sunday clinched his third straight victory in the Amgen Tour of California, but whose next mention in this story is more than a thousand words away. But give Armstrong this: Three-and-a-half years after his retirement, two races into his comeback, he has plunged an IV full of Red Bull into the arm of a sport sorely in need of a pick-me-up. By his mere presence in the peloton, the 37-year-old Texan makes pro cycling an infinitely more interestingWed, 25 Feb 2009 20:47:00 ESThttp://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1843860,00.html?xid=feed-cnn-topicshttp://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1843860,00.html?xid=feed-cnn-topicsSeven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong will join Team Astana for his return to competitive cyclingWed, 24 Sep 2008 10:00:00 EDThttp://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/austin_murphy/09/09/lance.return/index.htmlhttp://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/austin_murphy/09/09/lance.return/index.htmlGrim news for gossip rags everywhere: Lance Armstrong confirmed Tuesday that he is, in fact, coming out of retirement. The immediate result, of course -- aside from a defibrillation of interest in cycling in this country -- will be a marked reduction in late-night sightings of the Lone Star State's most prolific Lothario with celebrity blondes of various vintages on his arm. If Lance is going to take the start at the Amgen Tour of California on Valentine's Day, 2009 -- the first of five stages races he's reportedly eyeballing, culminating with the Tour de France next July -- he'll need to maybe be dial down the night life a bit.Wed, 10 Sep 2008 12:32:00 EDThttp://www.cnn.com/2008/US/09/09/armstrong.returns/index.html#cnnSTCTexthttp://www.cnn.com/2008/US/09/09/armstrong.returns/index.html#cnnSTCTextCyclist Lance Armstrong confirmed Tuesday that he will be returning to road racing and will shoot for an eighth win at the Tour de France.Wed, 10 Sep 2008 12:21:00 EDThttp://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/austin_murphy/07/03/tour.preview/index.htmlhttp://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/austin_murphy/07/03/tour.preview/index.htmlRhetorical question posed on the eve of the 95th Tour de France, which begins Saturday in Brest, at the tip of the Breton peninsula: Wouldn't it be surprising if cycling, for so long the poster child of pharmacologically jacked-up sports, turned out to be cleaner than, say, the NFL, or the NHL, or Major League Baseball?Thu, 03 Jul 2008 23:12:00 EDThttp://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/austin_murphy/02/27/leogrande.affadavit/index.htmlhttp://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/austin_murphy/02/27/leogrande.affadavit/index.htmlFrom Rock Racing, the only U.S. Pro Continental team that travels with its own stable of podium girls, comes this breaking news: team owner Michael Ball has had an epiphany! On Tuesday, Rock announced plans to adopt "an aggressive internal team anti-doping program," such as those employed by Slipstream, High Road, CSC, Astana and others.Wed, 27 Feb 2008 22:40:00 ESThttp://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/austin_murphy/07/24/vino.reax/index.htmlhttp://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/austin_murphy/07/24/vino.reax/index.htmlPAU, France -- No matter who wins this race, it seems destined to go down as the Tour dominated by talk of Alexandre Vinokourov's blood.Tue, 24 Jul 2007 08:30:00 EDThttp://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/austin_murphy/07/21/tour.stage13/index.htmlhttp://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/austin_murphy/07/21/tour.stage13/index.htmlALBI, France -- I was among the score or so of reporters skulking around the lobby of the Novotel in Montpellier on Friday, hoping extract a quote from embattled race leader Michael Rasmussen of Rabobank. (The crafty Dane gave us the dodge; officials of the Danish Cycling Union, apparently, can relate). Sharing the hotel with the Rabos was Team Astana. While we loitered on the lookout for Rasmussen, Alexandre Vinokourov emerged from the dining room. With a total of 30 stitches in his knees, he made his way across the lobby with the stiff-legged gait of a man with advanced arthritis. It was clear that the podium was beyond his reach.Sat, 21 Jul 2007 08:18:00 EDThttp://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/austin_murphy/07/17/stage9.reax/index.htmlhttp://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/austin_murphy/07/17/stage9.reax/index.htmlThis will be a rushed dispatch: I arrived late to this ancient city in the southern Alps as the result of some travel misadventures that I will share later this week (suffice it to say that the doors of a train closed on my fingertips while a French conductor met my pleas with an impassive stare that reminded me of Merseault from The Stranger).Tue, 17 Jul 2007 08:57:00 EDThttp://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/austin_murphy/07/10/tour.0710/index.htmlhttp://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/austin_murphy/07/10/tour.0710/index.htmlYes, Tuesday's Stage 3 into Compiegne featured an electrifying finish, with race leader Fabian Cancellara of Team CSC schooling the sprinters, throwing down a vicious acceleration 700 meters from the finish line, then holding off the muscle-bound likes of Erik Zabel, Tom Boonen and Robert Forster. To me, the biggest story of the day was not Cancellara's breathtaking speed at the finish, but the stately, unhurried, club-ride pace set by the peloton in the hours before the thrilling denouement. This was the slowest stage in recent memory. As I will explain later, that's a good thing.Tue, 10 Jul 2007 08:24:00 EDT