it is great that popo came back he is the best of his job with him astana will be perfeck for the next year

Good luck,Popo!

I think Contador wanted him back. Pure and simple. Doesn't anyone remember 07 with Popo riding shotgun. The guy is a beast. Armstrong is now the sideshow. At least I hope so.

Popo mystifies me, he has the all round ability to win any race he puts his mind to, yet always seems to lack that natural instinct and condition to take out the win. Maybe he needs to be tightly man-managed, with a good old arm round the shoulder however, when all your riders live across Europe that is not always possible. However, in saying all that Johan Bruyneel did seem to get the best out of him during his time with Discovery, after his move from Landbouwkredit-Colnago in which he was the big fish in a smaller pond. The confidence since has seemed to drain from him and hopefully will be replaced with this move to Astana.

It was probably hard for him to suffer for someone like Evans. Obviously he had no admiration for the guy. I expect he will be highly motivated and prepared riding for Astana for 2009.

well surely all astana need now is a decent classics rider nd the season will be sewn up!!! theyre going to be dominant in the mountains in the grand tours. The only man capable of puttin out their flames is andy shleck!! and i am just praying he achieves this at the tour!! Go ANDY!!

thats the way i see it too chem452002 looks like armstrong means business, i just hope he is fit enough come the tour to put in a classic armstrong performance, if anybody knows how to put the best team together and get the best out of the riders then it absolutely has to be armstrong, love him or hate him he is the big daddy when it comes to organising a team. cant wait for 2009

This means only one thing. Armstrong is serious and wants ppl that he thinks can do the job. I like Contador but he will understand soon Armstrong is not Cadel Evans. Armstrong is superior. He will be 38, I know ,but we are talking about Armstrong here. Another thing about Armstrong is, he is obsessed wt Cycling. He tried fame, women, money, hanging out with famous people but found out nothing is exciting like cycling.

Good job for Astana, good job for Popo, i love to watch him on downhill, he is the best rider on downhill. Contador must say thanks to Popo for win on TDF 2007

Astana is super team, like Discovery channel 2002-03, maybe strongest team i ever see in cycling

The stage he went for the win was because the leaders were not going to catch the break. They sent him at the road as he wasn't in good form in tour so that if the break was caught he would be there to help Evans. Sure he didnt give Evans the help that was expected but when he was at Discovery his work on the lower slopes sent alot of the other big riders helpers out of the group. I'd expect him to do the same job for Astana with Contador, Armstrong, Levi, Kloden, Horner, Popo, Rubiera, Zubeldia and Brajkovic they have the ability to put out such a strong team in the mountains.

last yr was dissapointin 4 popo but in 2007 i think he had a gr8 tour so it wil b interestin 2 c how he does. certaintly though astana hav a gr8 team 4 next yr, cnt fink of ne1 hu can challenge them reli

Agree with Raffy, Popo's 2008 season was unremarkable. He never did supply the goods for Evans during the TdeF.

well he is going back to help big daddy armstrong. great maybe sastre will also come back, one big happy family lol

As A domestique he didn't do much for Evans. At the only time he was really in a position to help him he went for himself, dashing his leader's chances in the process. Hopefully he has something better in store for Astana..!
Raffy