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According to Spanish website sport.es, American Levi Leipheimer will swap his Discovery Channel jersey for that of Team Astana in 2008, after the American squad disbands at the end of this season. Rumours of Discovery’s team manager Johan Bruyneel being courted by the Kazakhstan Cycling Federation (which manages the Astana team) have been rife in recent weeks, with the Belgian confirming to Cyclingnews that he has been contacted regarding a position.

Quizzed at the recent Tour of Missouri, Bruyneel refused to comment on his future plans, preferring to concentrate on Discovery’s last race on American soil. However, Nikolai Proskurin, vice president of the Kazakhstan Cycling Federation recently told Kazakh magazine Our Sport that current Astana manager Marc Biver would not be with the team next year, potentially paving the way for Bruyneel. “It is 150 percent certain, that [Biver] won’t work for us in 2008,” said Proskurin. “We have had good discussions with Johan Bruyneel. We want him as Biver’s successor. Johan enjoys a good reputation in cycling.”

Aside from Leipheimer, there have also been suggestions that Bruyneel would bring to Astana several Discovery Channel riders, among them Tour de France winner Alberto Contador, Tomas Vaitkus and Sergio Paulinho.

By: CyclingNews.com