Sanchez hopes great friend Contador can win Tour

ST GIRONS, France (Reuters) - Alberto Contador has friends in his own Astana team but he can also count on the solid support of Luis Leon Sanchez, stage eight winner on the Tour de France on Saturday.

"I would be delighted if Alberto won the Tour, he really is a great friend of mine," said the Caisse d'Epargne team leader.

"I don't want to go into the controversy about a possible rivalry with Lance Armstrong in the Astana team but Alberto has already left most of his rivals like (Denis) Menchov, (Cadel) Evans or (Andy) Schleck two to four minutes behind.

"Yesterday he showed how strong he was. I'm sure he's full of confidence now and with such a strong team behind him, he should not have any problems," Sanchez added.

Contador is currently second overall, six seconds behind Italy's Rinaldo Nocentini with Armstrong third, a further two seconds adrift.

Sanchez and Contador rode in the same team between 2004 and 2006 and there have been suggestions that their comradeship survived their departure to rival teams.

In the last Dauphine Libere race, Sanchez's Caisse d'Epargne team overtly worked hand in hand with Contador and there have been suspicions that they might side with the 2007 Tour champion should he be in trouble in this Tour.

In the first mountain stage to the Andorran resort of Arcalis, Evans tried to attack Contador and Armstrong and it was Sanchez who was the one to chase behind the Australian.

"Sanchez obviously worked for Contador rather than against him," said Evans's team manager Hendrick Redant.

Rumors of an alliance between Sanchez's team and Contador were further fueled by press reports during the Giro d'Italia that Contador might join Caisse d'Epargne for the Tour if Astana's financial problems at the time were not solved.

But Caisse d'Epargne sources always denied such a move.

"Every team would love to hire Alberto Contador as he is the best rider in the world but as such, he is probably too expensive for us," said team manager Francis Lafargue.

Caisse d'Epargne already have enough leaders as it is with Alejandro Valverde, albeit missing here, and Sanchez himself, who after Saturday's win did not rule out challenging Contador himself in the future.

"This Tour is a little bit of a test for me to see whether I have the potential to be a big Tour contender one day," he said.

"For sure, in the future, I'd love to maintain the Spanish tradition of great Tour riders."

(Editing by Dave Thompson)