Contador agrees to race alongside Lance

Former Tour de France champion Alberto Contador of Spain has agreed to race alongside seven-times winner Lance Armstrong in the Astana squad when the American makes his comeback next year.

"I've met with the team manager (Johan Bruyneel) and we've sorted out any possible kind of tension," Contador said in an interview released by his media officer on Saturday.

"I've decided to continue in the team because I can count on a great squad who've always worked all out to support me in every race I've done."

Asked if he had overcome earlier reservations about Armstrong's comeback with Astana, Contador said: "I think everything will resolve itself much better than seemed possible at first.

"It's true that I'm ambitious and when it was proposed that he win his eighth Tour, I thought it would be difficult for us to race together.

"But with good management, there shouldn't be problems in the Tour."

Considered the best stage racer in the world, Contador signed with Astana in January 2008.

In September he expressed doubts about co-leading the Kazakh squad with Armstrong in 2009, telling the Spanish sports daily 'AS' that "some difficult situations could arise in which the team would put him first".

However, the 2007 Tour winner now says an Astana team meeting in November will erase any earlier signs of a possible division.

"We will have a meeting in Tenerife at the end of November and we'll talk with the management to avoid any type of controversy," he said. "We'll be two more riders in the team roster and I won't be stressed about anything."

Armstrong said last month he hoped Contador would remain with Astana, where the Spaniard's contract expires at the end of the 2010 season.

After a three-year absence, seven-times Tour winner Armstrong's first race will be the Tour Down Under in Australia in January 2009. Contador's first event of the new season will probably be the Tour of Valencia in early February.