Madrid, Spain ? If Lance Armstrong joins the Astana cycling team for his comeback, then Alberto Contador is ready to leave.

“I think I’ve earned the right to be the leader of a team without having to fight for my place,” the Spanish rider said Tuesday in AS newspaper. “And with Armstrong, some difficult situations could arise in which the team would put him first, and that would hurt me.”

Contador, the 2007 Tour de France champion, won the Spanish Vuelta on Sunday.

“My intention is to stay (at Astana) because I have a contract until 2010, but I have already received a good number of offers from other teams,” he said.

Armstrong announced this month he is returning to cycling after three years in retirement and would attempt to win the Tour de France an eighth time.