Saxo-Tinkoff in - Katusha out

Bjarne Riis can keep smiling as his
team finally got a World Tour license.

Today The International Cycling Union (UCI) finally revealed all the 18 World Tour teams for 2013 and in the end Bjarne Riis and Team Saxo-Tinkoff managed to secure their status in the cycling elite. Instead Katusha - who ended 2^nd on the UCI World Tour team ranking - was left out.

Earlier this week Roman Kreuziger explained that for him it wouldn’t really matter if Team Saxo-Tinkoff got the World Tour license or not as he was sure they would be given wild cards to all the big races anyway. “Everybody wants to have Alberto [Contador] in the their race so I’m not worried”, Kreuziger said and I’m sure the situation will be the same for Katusha.

Having Joaquim ‘Purito’ Rodriguez - winner of the individual UCI World Tour ranking for the second year in a row - plus strong riders like Dani Moreno, Denis Menchov, Alexander Kristoff etc. on the team surely counts when the race organizers are sending out invitations. I for one will be very surprised not to see Purito and Katusha in the big races in 2013…

These are the 18 World Tour teams for next year:

Astana Pro Team

BMC Racing Team

Cannondale

Lampre – Merida

Omega Pharma – Quick Step Cycling Team 

ORICA GreenEDGE

Sky Procycling

Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team

Movistar Team

AG2R La Mondiale 

Euskaltel Euskadi

Former Rabobank

Garmin Sharp

Team Argos–Shimano 

Team Saxo – Tinkoff

FDJ

Lotto Belisol

RadioShackNissan

Garzelli to decide his future within two weeks

Update 23/12-2012: Italian newspaper La Gazzetta reports that Stefano Garzelli will sign with Vini Fantini for 2013. Garzelli has his eyes on winning the KOM jersey in the Giro for the third time in his career.

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Stefano Garzelli.

Last year Stefano Garzelli was close to sign a contract with Bjarne Riis and Team Saxo Bank, but decided to stay with Acqua e Sapone in order to finish his career with the Italian team after Giro d’Italia. Unfortunately RCS Sport didn’t want to give Garzelli the opportunity to do so as they left out Acqua e Sapone when they handed out the wild cards.

Missing out on the Giro was probably also the reason why Acqua e Sapone decided not to continue their sponsorship in 2013 and therefore Stefano Garzelli now needs to find out if he won’t to continue his career elsewhere or let this be his last season in the peloton.

It’s no secret that Garzelli’s wish always has been to end his career after the Giro, which he won in 2000, but his brother and agent Marco Garzelli, tells me that the current situation with the UCI point system makes it difficult to find a team guaranteed a spot in the Giro next year.

“Stefano had a lot of problems this year and therefore he doesn’t have many points. It’s all very complicated right now. We will know within the next two weeks”, Marco Garzelli tells C-Cycling.

Stefano Garzelli wasn’t present at the Giro d’Italia presentation last month as he the night before was in the middle of “one of the most horrible situation” of his life. The extreme flood in southern Spain had Garzelli and his wife and kids fear for their life as tried to escape the water in the middle of the night. “I was supposed to be riding Giro di Lombardia, but my injury had me to relaxing on the couch instead. I can’t even imagine what would have happened if my wife had been home alone with the kids. This made me once again realize that missing out on races aren’t that important after all”, Garzelli said after the incident.

Gianni Savio and his Androni team are known for giving riders a last chance and after saying good bye to José Rujano and being sure of a Giro invitation next year, maybe this could be a place for Garzelli to end his career? Time will tell… 

From heaven to hell for Kreuziger?

Roman Kreuziger from his time with Liquigas.

About four weeks ago Team Saxo Bank - Tinkoff Bank finally made the signing of Roman Kreuziger official and last Friday Kreuziger got married in Italy. Kreuziger missed out in the Giro d’Italia this year due to a couple of off days in the mountains and after being benched for the Vuelta by Astana (knowing he wouldn’t stay with the team) he has already been looking forward to joining Alberto Contador next year for quite some time.

When signing Kreuziger, Bjarne Riis said that: “Roman is a rider that I actually wanted to have on the team some years back. So that we have now been able to seal deal is something I'm extremely happy about”.  

According to the recent USADA dossier though, Bjarne Riis should be happy he didn’t sign Kreuziger in the past. In his witness statement, Leonardo Bertagnolli claims that most of the Liquigas team (that he was a part of in 2007) was using the doping doctor Michele Ferrari. Bertagnolli names Roman Kreuziger by name in his statement plus Enrico Gasparatto who also attended Roman Kreuziger’s wedding last week.

Along with Leonardo Bertagnolli former Discovery Channel rider, Volodymyr Bileka also claims to have seen Roman Kreuziger - among other riders - in his past dealings with Michele Ferrari around 2006-2007.

In 2008 Team Liquigas put in, as the first team ever to do so, a clause in the riders contract stating that they were no longer allowed to use trainers or doctors outside of the team. If so they would be suspended immediately. “There has only been one exception since 2008 and this was granted to Ivan Basso, who is followed by Aldo Sassi and by the Mapei Center”, the team write in a press release sent out last night.

It’s important to state that up until Leonardo Bertagnolli’s and Velodymyr Bileka’s statements to the Italian law enforcement, Roman Kreuziger has never been linked to any doping abuse.

Roman Kreuziger has yet to make an official comment on the statements from Bertagnolli and Bileka. It’s really a shame his honey moon should start like this.

On a side note, Alberto Contador earlier said that he recommended Bjarne Riis to sign the Czech star rider.

Extra focus on the team time trial

The World Champions Team Time Trial is already this Sunday and therefore I decided to repost the article I wrote about the event earlier this year. Here you go:

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Since the UCI revealed there would be a team time trial for sponsored teams on the menu for the World Champions in Limburg this year, every team with ambitions has been rearming their roster with strong time trialists.

Given the fact that the World Champions takes place in Holland, Dutch Vacansoleil-DCM is naturally one of the teams with an extra focus on the team time trial. With strong riders like Stijn Devolder and the two season-sensations Lieuwe Westra and Thomas De Gendt on the team, Vacansoleil-DCM were already set to clock in a decent time on home soil. Still, to increase their chances, they went out and signed Swedish time trial specialist Gustav Erik Larsson (who started out winning the opening time trial in Paris-Nice this year) and Danish Martin Mortensen who is always among the best time trialists of his country.

Swedish time trial specialist, Gustav Erik Larsson, is signed to
give Vacansoleil-DCM a better chance of succes in the TTT.

"Gustav [Erik Larsson] is a great cyclist who can give us joy all year long, but of course we had that [the World Champions TTT] in mind when we signed him. Martin [Mortensen] is also on our 10-riders list [for the TTT]. Valkenburg is definitely a goal for us and we already went to inspect the course last January. We also had our team presentation in the south of Limburg, near to the track”, Press Officer of Vacansoleil-DCM Ard Bierens tells me.

It’s not only Vacansoleil-DCM who have been reinforcing their roster. For this season BCM Racing signed super time trialists like Marco Pinotti (winner of the individual time trial in Giro d’Italia this year) and Tejay van Garderen together with Philippe Gilbert (Currently national time trial champion of Belgium) and Thor Hushovd, while Astana signed Janez Brajkovic and Andrei Kashechkin. Team Sky got Richie Porte and Konstantin Sioutsou and Movistar signed Vladimir Karpets, Jonathan Castroviejo, Giovanni Visconti (and Alejandro Valverde).

One of the strongest teams in the first half of 2012, OmegaPharma-Quickstep, already had a strong lineup for the team time trial with riders like Sylvain Chavanel, Niki Terpstra, Dario Cataldo and Tom Boonen. Those riders probably wouldn't have been able to win the World Champion Team Time Trial, but with the new signings of Tony Martin, Bert Grabsch, Levi Leipheimer, Peter Velits and young-gun Mikael Kwiatkowski they will be among the top favorites together with Team Sky.

One could argue that the lack of training together and oiling the machine before the World Champions would be a problem. Lately we have seen more and more team time trials in the stage races but without a long one in the Tour de France this year and only two very flat ones in the Giro (32 km) and Vuelta (16,5 km) there won't be many chances for the teams to practice in races. According to Vacansoleil-DCM’s Ard Bierens that won’t have much influence on the team’s preparations though.

“It’s not a problem. Eneco Tour also has a team time trial now and together with the others during the season it’s enough. At the end it all comes down to the day itself and the performance then. It isn't easy to ride many races with the expected WC-selections, so that [not training together much]won’t be a problem”, he says.

Vacansoleil-DCM aim to end in the top10 in the World Champions Team Time Trial on home soil this year.

The World Champion Team Time Trial course in Limburg - 53,2 km.

One of the only teams that breaks the pattern of signing strong riders for the team time trial is Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank. Bjarne Riis has always been very fond of the discipline and even though he gets Alberto Contador back in time, he still let go of both Richie Porte and Gustav Erik Larsson. On paper Riis shouldn’t be very optimistic but after a good performance in the Giro d’Italia (Saxo Bank taking 4^th place) the Danish team owner is now confident he can put together a strong team.

Team Saxo Bank taking 4th place in
the TTT in Giro d'Italia this year.

“That's the plan - to have a good team there, come out of the Vuelta in good shape and then do well. We have proved that even with a team that is absolutely not favorites, we can go fast in the team time trials. We have a lot of experience in that. You saw we were fourth in the Giro team time trial recently and that was a surprise for many.  I’m confident we're going to be strong”, Bjarne Riis tells Eurosport.

The World Champions Team Time Trial 2012 takes place on Sunday the 16^th of September with the first team starting at 14:30. The distance is 53,2 km and the course features three climbs; Lange Raarberg (1300 meters with 4,5%), Bergseweg (2700 meters with 3,3%) and the legendary Cauberg (1200 meters with 5,8%).

Tour Preview - Stage 8

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Any riders aiming at the polka dot jersey will have this stage red-circled in their calendar. With 7 categorized climbs on the menu, this is the day you need to hit the right break and collect points. I can’t see any team take control keep it together so let’s have a look at some of the riders able to make the final breakaway.

Favorites:

First name I thought of when I saw this stage profile earlier this was Sylvain Chavanel. This is a typical Chavanel stage and with the shape he has shown so far this season, he is surely one of the big favorites! Sylvain Chavanel came to the Tour stating that he wanted to animate the race again and take the yellow jersey at some point during the race. He tried hard on the first stages but Fabian Cancellara didn’t let it happen. Now the yellow jersey is property of Team Sky and Bradley Wiggins and I doubt they want to spend (waste) the same amount of energy in keeping the jersey this early in the race. Chavanel seems to be in something like the shape of his life and I’m sure he will try to get away and try to take it all in Porrentruy; stage win and yellow jersey. Only thing pointing against it is that Sylvain Chavanel still is fairly close in the GC. After Stage 7 he said that he now wants to keep his place high in the overall standings and with a time trial coming up on Monday he may think it would be wasting powers working in front all day on Sunday.

As said this is a stage for the riders chasing the polka dot jersey and because of that we can’t let out Johnny Hoogerland. His big goal in this Tour is to take revenge and get the jersey and being almost half an hour after Wiggins in the overall classification he’s absolutely no threat what so ever. Hoogerland showed in Tirreno-Adriatico that he has taken his climbing to the next level and he needs that on the last three climbs of the stage all with average percentages of 8-9%. Vacansoleil-DCM have a lot of riders who could do well on this stage (especially Rafa Valls and Marco Marcato) but I think Hoogerland will be the most motivated, knowing there are 38 points up for grab in the fight for the polka dot jersey.

Last climb. Top is 15km from the line.

Normally I would have picked out Michael Albasini as an excellent choice for a stage winner but after his effort on Stage 7 I think it’s time for Simon Gerrans to show the GreenEDGE colors. Gerrans had an outstanding start of the season winning Tour Down Under and Milano-San Remo and wanted to do well on Stage 3 but ended up in the side of the road before the race went into its final part. Without a real GC-contender GreenEDGE have giving Albasini, Gerrans and Weening green light to try their own luck in the breakaways and this being a perfect stage for a break to make it, I think Gerrans will be eager to show off his Australian Champion jersey in front of the Tour de France.

I could keep on naming typical breakaway riders like Sandy Casar, Alexander Vinkourov, Thomas Voeckler etc. etc., but that would take all evening. That being said, those three are also excellent picks for a winner in Porrentruy Sunday afternoon!

After Stage 7 Bjarne Riis didn’t hide Team Saxo Bank - Tinkoff Bank’s ambitions for this stage when asked about the tactic: “If they [the peloton] let him go I think we will see Chris [Anker Sørensen] in front again tomorrow”. It’s no secret that Sørensen wants the polka dot jersey but I honestly can’t see him win a sprint in a small group. If Chris Anker Sørensen is going to win Stage 8 it has to be solo, attacking on the last steep climb with its top 15 km from the line.

As you can see it’s almost impossible picking only one rider for a stage like this, but I think I’ll try with the Australian Champion. Second pick will be French.

Winner pick: Simon Gerrans

Joker: Sandy Casar

Oleg Tinkov backs Bjarne Riis

Bjarne Riis and Oleg Tinkov.

The new partner for Bjarne Riis' cycling team was announced Monday on a press conference and despite rumors of it being a Spanish bank, it's now confirmed that it's in fact is the Russian bank, Tinkoff Bank, who will be the new co-sponsor together with Saxo Bank. The new name is Team Saxo Bank - Tinkoff Bank.

"We are proud to return to cycling and to be sponsoring this team and Bjarne Riis who is without a doubt the best manager in the cycling world", Oleg Tinkov told the press.

Oleg Tinkov has been out of the cycling game for a while but is now back starting already from the Tour de France and until 2013 with the proclamed goal of being "the best team in the cycling world already from next year".

New jersey for Tour de France.

The new deal also means that Bjarne Riis finally will be able to increase his budget and thereby strengthen the roster as well. "The team will - for sure - be stronger next year. I won't name any names right now, but I'm working on it", Riis explains.

Last year Saxo Bank opened a representative office in Moscow, but since Bjarne Riis didn't managed to sign Denis Menchov it seemed like the Russian connection was dead. That being untill today. Not only will Tinkoff Bank partner up with Saxo Bank in matters of the cycling team they will also start a project together in Russia  later this year.

Is Santander finally stepping into cycling?

Is Santander Bjarne Riis' new sponsor?

For many years there have been rumors of the Spanish bank Santander wanting to try out cycling as main sponsor of a cycling team with a Spanish star on their roster.

On Friday the 22nd of June, CEO of Saxo Bank – current main sponsor of Bjarne Riis’ cycling team with Alberto Contador – Lars Seier Christensen confirmed they will have a press conference on Monday the 25th together with the cycling team.

According to the Danish financial newspaper Børsen, Saxo Bank will give up half of their sponsorship to a foreign bank (meaning not Danish) and step down as main sponsor for the cycling team. Only a few weeks ago Alberto Contador signed a new contract with Bjarne Riis running to the end of 2015 and knowing that Santander has been trying to find the right time to invest in cycling, Alberto Contador sure is one of the best way to do so.

Santander CEO, Alfredo Saenz, was the man behind Miguel Indurain and the Banesto team back in the 90’s when he single-handedly turned Banesto from bankruptcy to success with Miguel Indurain winning five consecutive Tour de France wins.

Asked if Bjarne Riis will reveal Santander as the new sponsor for the his cycling team, press officer Anders Damgaard simply told me “no comments”

UPDATE @ 17:00 - Riis Cycling confirm press conference on Monday at 13:00 CET stating that "Bjarne Riis has important news about the future of the cycling team".

Exclusive - Fuglsang: I want to stay with Radioshack

Jakob Fuglsang before the start of
Stage 2 of the Giro d'Italia 2012.

There have been rumors about Jakob Fuglsang’s future ever since the merger between Leopard and Radioshack last year. One very strong rumor these days is that Fuglsang will return to Bjarne Riis and Team Saxo Bank next season, but according to the Dane himself, that’s not necessarily the case.

“It’s only rumors, I really don’t know how they are started. I haven’t talked with Saxo Bank at all. Actually I haven’t talked about my next contract with anybody yet, not Johan [Bruyneel ] either. The team directors need to prioritize and find out how they want the team to look like next season, but I’m very interested in staying with Radioshack and I’m looking forward to have a talk with Johan about it”.

About the ongoing Giro d’Italia Jakob Fuglsang’s favorite for the overall win was originally Michele Scarponi, but after the Italian's poor time trial yesterday Fuglsang now put his faith in Ivan Basso. About team mate Fränk Schleck’s chances he says:

“I think Fränk has a good chance. He got thrown into this very suddenly and he really doesn’t have any pressure on him to perform. I think he can benefit from that. For sure he can end on the podium, but winning is another thing. It will depend on how well he performs in the time trials”.

Jakob Fulgsang's big goal this season was the Giro d’Italia but after his injuries he will now focus on the general classification in Tour de Suisse and then to help Andy Schleck in the Tour.

Giro Interview - Gustav Erik Larsson

Gustav Erik Larsson at his best on the
time trial bike on his way to glory.

Giro Interview – Gustav Erik Larsson (Rider, Vacansoleil-DCM) For four years Gustav Erik Larsson was a part of the Danish Team Saxo Bank but when one of the biggest races in the world, Giro d’Italia, actually starts out in Denmark, Larsson finds himself in the colors of the Dutch Vacansoleil-DCM team.

I made the following interview with the strong Swede on Thursday evening before the team rushed off to dinner.

Gustav, how is it not being a part of the Danish team when the Giro starts in Denmark?
To be honest I haven’t actually thought about it before now, but it is kind of strange thinking about it. I used to ride with Bjarne Riis’ team, now we are in his city and I’m not a part of the team anymore.

But you are happy with your change of teams?
Yes it’s been a great start for me with the win in Paris-Nice. Last year was a very bad year for me. I had a pretty awful winter and that’s why I didn’t do better in the first part of the season. But before that I think I have had three really good years with Saxo Bank and now I hope I can come back and show what I’m worth.

So what are your ambitions for the Giro this time?
I’m going for the overall classification actually. I will try to hang on for as long as possible on the climbs and the two time trials are very good for me. I aim for a spot in the Top10 but we will have to see how the legs respond first. I don’t think it’s possible to gain back very much time [in the time trials] so it’s important not to get dropped in the mountains.

How do you feel compared to 2008 when you ended 14th in the GC?
It was my first season with Riis and I was in very, very good shape. I think I can do it again.

First we have the prologue on Saturday. What do you think you can do there?
It’s always difficult to say. There are a lot of riders who are not time trial specialists but still able do to a very good prologue. I mean it’s only 8,7 km. Of course I would like to win it like I did in Paris-Nice but it won’t be easy. It would have been good for me if there had been a little hill or something to make it more tough, but I think it’s an okay route. The only thing is that it’s actually rather late on the day so it will be a little bit chilly outside.

What about the team time trial?
Well, if you look at the individual riders we have some very strong time trialists, but the problem is that we haven’t trained together. Still I think it can be fine for us if we just get the tactic straight and everybody moves around like they are supposed to when it counts on the roads.

Do you fear any of the stages in this year’s Giro?
On the first stage in Denmark we are going to ride alongside the sea so I hope it won’t be chaos. Anything can really happen on that stage, especially if it’s windy as well. We have to pay attention and be prepared. 

Let’s end with talking about the GC favorites. Who is your pick?
Hmm. Ivan Basso is always a strong contender, but I don’t know if he is ready yet. If he is though, then I think he will win it. I doubt it will be one of the pure climbers, but then again there are some very tough climbs on the menu, so you never know. We will see what happens.

Contador wants to stay with Riis

Contador says he wants to continue working with Bjarne Riis
Honestly...would you be able to resist those eyes?

Alberto Contador confirmed yesterday that he wishes to continue with Bjarne Riis and Team Saxo Bank when his ban ends later this year.

In an interview with Spanish Radio, Cadena COPE, he says: "Six teams, among them Movistar, have contacted my brother (Fran Contador who is also Alberto's agent) but I prefer to stay with Team Saxo Bank. They have helped me unconditionally at all time during this difficult time and you can't put a price on that. Therefore they are my first choice".

For Bjarne Riis this is very good news, but let's wait and see what happens in the end. It wouldn't be the first time things didn't go according to plan for the Danish team.

You can read the full transcript of the interview with Alberto Contador (in Spanish) right here thanks to Fran Reyes and the guys over at Revolutio.

Bjarne Riis' Giro-sensation up in smoke

Rafal Majka, Saxo Bank

At the team presentation last winter, Bjarne Riis revealed that Team Saxo Bank would back young Rafal Majka in the Giro d'Italia in order to end high up in the general classification.

Last time Bjarne Riis had a similar plan, Andy Schleck took 2nd place overall in the Italian Grand Tour so they were high hopes for Polish young-gun.

Unfortunately the bad luck for Team Saxo Bank never seems to end. With less than a month to the start of the Giro d'Italia, Rafal Majka has thrown in the towel. Majka crashed in Tirreno-Adriatico and had to withdraw from Volta Catalunya during stage 3. On Thursday it was confirmed that he has a fracture in his knee and has to be out for an unknown amount of time.

"It's even difficult for me to walk up the stairs. I don't know when I will be back", Rafal Majka told onet.

This means that Team Saxo Bank once again needs to change their plans and with the Giro d'Italia starting in Denmark, they can't just send any team. They need a strong rider for the GC, but who will it be? Argentinean sprinter Juan José Haedo will be ready to fight for stage wins in the mass sprints, but is that enough for Bjarne Riis in a race that starts out in his home town?

The one with the rifle shoots!

It's a new world at Team Saxo Bank. Alberto Contador is out until August and that means the Danish team now needs to find another rider ready - and able - to step up and try to fill Contador's shoes. Seems like Mission Impossible right?

And if we stay in this movie-theme, I think a specific scene from Enemy at the Gates actually fits the situation very well. Preparing for battle the Soviet officers are given out one rifle per two men with the second man getting a clip of ammunition.

Handing out the rifles the officer says: "The one without a rifle, follows him with one! When the one with the rifle gets killed, the one who is following picks up the rifle and shoots!"

Alberto Contador has been sidelined so now it's time for the second guard to pick up the rifle. Riders like Dani Navarro, Jesus Hernandez, Chris Anker Sørensen and the Polish youngster Rafal Majka, who is set to the team in the Giro, all have potentials to do great things and now it's time to show it.

At Team Saxo Bank they feel the cold wall against their back these days, but that doesn't mean they give up. "We have certain expectations that they [the mentioned riders above] have the class to bring in results", Team Saxo Bank PR-manager Anders Damgaard tells me.

Navarro working hard on the climbs
for  team lader Contador last year.

No one expect a rider like Dani Navarro to win the Tour, of course not, but according to Navarro himself the chances of an overall top10 place isn't that far off. "If I don't have to help out Alberto I could try to go for a top10 spot myself, even though it would be hard", Dani Navarro told feltet.dk back in December last year. Especially the one-week stage races are a good chance for the strong Spaniard to show himself. "If I could get my own chance in those races, I could do top5 or top10", Navarro claims.

So far Dani Navarro already showed his class in Tour Méditerranéen where he ended 3rd overall after a good performance on the mountain stage where he took 2nd after season sensation Jonathan Tiernan-Locke. In the ongoing Paris-Nice, Navarro was in the first group on stage two, but got caught up in the crash. He lost the GC that day, but has been showing good signs, especially in the uphill section,s ever since. I wouldn't be surprised if he ends off with a great performance on Col d'Eze the last stage, even though time trialing isn't one of his strong suits.

Jesus Hernandez is a bit of a mystery. In training he is one of the absolute strongest uphill, just ask Lance Armstrong, but as soon as he gets that race number on, something changes. He is 100% dedicated to his captain, that often being his best friend Alberto Contador, and it seems difficult for him to change focus and try his own luck. Even with Contador sidelined Jesus Hernandez admits that he by instinct still looks for him in the peloton to see how he is and if he needs something.

Jesus Hernandez as always just
next to team mate and friend Contador.

In the past Jesus Hernandez has done top20 in the Vuelta España and the one day he tried to go in a breakaway he managed to take 8th on stage 17 of the Giro d'Italia last year. Jesus Hernandez has the potential of doing big things in the mountains, for himself, and if Bjarne Riis [and Alberto Contador for that matter] can get him to understand that and believe in that, I think he could take home a beautiful mountain stage win in the Tour de France.

Just yesterday Jesus Hernandez came back home from a mini training camp with Alberto Contador, who according to himself is doing better in tests than ever before, and it sounds like Jesus Hernandez is getting in pretty good condition for the up-coming races. "Training with him [Alberto Contador] is harder than the races", he wrote on Twitter.

Chris Anker Sørensen taking his first
Grand Tour stage win in the Giro 2010.

Chris Anker Sørensen has for a long time been a huge talent in the mountains and to be fair he has already taking great stage wins in races like Giro d'Italia and Dauphine Libéré, as well as coming very close in the Vuelta España. Still it never seems to work out for Chris Anker in the Tour de France. Now he has the chance to change that!

At the team presentation last year Chris Anker Sørensen said that he saw himself at the same level as Chris Froome [sensational 2nd overall in the Vuelta España last year] and if he can prove that on the road, the Danish climber could reach new highs this year.

Last up is Rafal Majka. According to Bjarne Riis the team has a plan for the young Polish rider in the Giro this year with hopes of a good place in the overall classification. Last time Riis had a similar plan was when Andy Schleck ended 2nd in the Giro d'Italia. Majka did very well last year in his first pro-season and at the team presentation he said that he think he has good time trial skills as well as strong climbing legs on the long steady climbs. It's difficult to know what to expect from Rafal Majka in the Giro this year, but don't be surprised if this Polish youngster ends up fighting for a spot in the top10.

It's time to pick up the rifle and shoot!

Exclusive interview - Stefano Garzelli

Stefano Garzelli

Stefano Garzelli had planned to end his long glorious career after the Giro d’Italia this year, but since his team Acqua e Sapone didn’t get an invitation, Garzelli suddenly had to decide he if wanted to continue his career at all. I had a talk with the Italian veteran about the future and to clarify what happened with Bjarne Riis last summer.

Stefano, I'm very sorry to learn about the missing invitation to the Giro d'Italia. It must have been a big chock for you? 
Indeed. After what I managed to do last year in the race, I really didn’t expect this decision. I think I gave a lot to the Giro last year.

Do you find it disrespectful by the RCS not to invite you after all you have given the Giro? 
It’s beyond just lack of respect. I find it very hard to accept. I don’t understand why they have invited teams with less potential among their riders than we have. Beside myself we have two very talented young riders in Taborre and especially Betancur who would be our key rider for the GC. I would have liked to teach Betancur how to win a Giro but unfortunately that won’t happen now. 

Have you considered riding another season in order to be able do ride the Giro next year?
To be honest I won’t exclude it. I have already got an offer to continue one more year, but I will have to take my time and find out if I really want to keep on with the training and make all the sacrifices that go with it. If I can’t see the point in doing it, I will rather stop now because I will not continue riding my bike if I can’t compete with the best riders. 

I know you had planned to end your career after the Giro. How do you find the motivation to continue training without having the Giro to look forward to? 
Well, after I got the news [about not being invited to the Giro] my first thought was to stop my career. At my age it’s difficult to keep up the motivation and make sacrifices when the race that matters the most to you has been taking away. But after I had some time to think about it, I sat myself new goals starting with Tirreno-Adriatico and Milano-San Remo. I think this will be a good way to end my career as well.

Recently La Gazzetta dello Sport wrote that you would sign with Team Saxo Bank after Tirreno in order to ride the Giro. Is there any truth to that? 
I would have liked to, but unfortunately the regulations doesn’t allow it [Read here why not].

I know you were talking with Bjarne Riis last summer about a contract. Can you explain the reasons for not signing with Riis back then? 
Bjarne contacted me last year and we talked about it, but the problem was that I already had a contract with Acqua e Sapone for 2012. I talked with my team [Acqua e Sapone] about changing, but they made it clear to me that it would jeopardize their participation in the Giro and therefore I decided to not change. I could have insisted [on going to Saxo Bank] but because of our relationship I didn’t want to do it. 

So there is no possible way you will be able to ride the Giro d'Italia this year? 
In 2008 when we weren’t invited the decision was final, so I don’t have any hopes left now.

To end this interview I can tell that Stefano Garzelli just became father for the 4th time. He tells that for him 2012 is now already a success. “What more could I ask for than a lovely family and a good health”, he explains to me. Hopefully his newborn son Leonardo will help him getting through a difficult start to the season.

Team Saxo Bank - Ghost Team

Team boss Bjarne Riis.

Ever since Alberto Contador's case started a large amount of great riders have been signing contracts with Team Saxo Bank as his replacement or as luxury gregario in the mountains. At least in the press. Fact is that Team Saxo Bank hasn't signed a single one of all these riders.

Some riders they didn't have the funds to sign while other riders never were more than just a rumor. I thought it could be interesting to take a look at some of the riders who turned out to be nothing but ghosts.

Tony Martin (signed with Omega Pharma-Quickstep)
Bjarne Riis was very interested in signing Tony Martin when Team Highroad closed, but even though Saxo Bank had a an extra bag of money ready, the German rider decided to go elsewhere.

Thor Hushovd (signed with BMC)
It was very obvious during last year's Tour de France that Bjarne Riis would have loved to secure Thor Hushovd as Saxo Bank rider in 2012, but when Thor Hushovd saw the amount of zeros BMC could put on his paycheck he chose to join Phillipe Gilbert.

Denis Menchov (signed with Katusha)
Like last time Denis Menchov needed a new team, the press was fast to link the Russian rider with Bjarne Riis. According to the rumors Menchov had already had several conversations with Riis about a contract, but with an annual payment of €1.8 Euros, Riis didn't have the money (nor the desire?) to sign Menchov on for 2012.

Juanjo Cobo (signed with Movistar)
After winning the Vuelta España Juanjo Cobo signed a €800.000 contract with GEOX just to see the shoe company withdraw their sponsorship a few days later. Rumors had it that Cobo would head to Team Saxo Bank instead, but I think everyone 'involved' in that knew that would never happen.

Stefano Garzelli (re-signed with Acqua e Sapone)
Recently Stefano Garzelli was linked to Team Saxo Bank after his Italian team Acqua e Sapone didn't get invited to the Giro d'Italia where Garzelli had planned to end his career. After La Gazzetta bought the story, Garzelli himself said that it in fact was last summer he was negotiating with Team Saxo Bank, but ended up staying at Acqua e Sapone anyway. For what reason I don't know, but I guess he owed the team that much and of course thought they would be invited to the Giro.

Vladimir Karpets (signed with Movistar)
After a disappointing time with his fellow countrymen at Katusha, Vladimir Karpets felt the time was ready for a change. According to a recent interview with French site Velochrono, Karpets was very tempted to sign a contract with Bjarne Riis and Team Saxo Bank but decided to go to Movistar and his old boss Eusebio Unzué. "If I hadn't sign the contract with Movistar I would been going to Saxo Bank", he says. Karpets would have been a great help for Contador, plus a good rider for the one week stage races. Shame Bjarne Riis couldn't convince him.

Damiano Cunego (re-signed with Lampre)
Before the beginning of the 2011 season Damiano Cunego had a chance to change team for the first time in his career but decided to stay loyal to Lampre. The former Giro d'Italia rider had an offer from Bjarne Riis on the table but like all the riders above the ink never touched the paper - at least not the paper saying Team Saxo Bank at the top.

Other riders linked to Bjarne Riis and Team Saxo Bank are Chris Froome, Alejandro Valverde, Christopher Horner & Jakob Fulgsang (likely to sign next year) just to name a few. It's true that if Alberto Contador is a superior this year as he was in the Giro d'Italia last year, he doesn't need that one last man in the mountains, but it sure wouldn't have made his chances of success any smaller if just one of the mentioned riders was there to help him.

Team Saxo Bank can't sign Garzelli

Today's story in Gazzetta

Wednesday morning has been all about the possible signing of Stefano Garzelli by Team Saxo Bank. The Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport bought the story in their paper edition today, but they seem to forget one very important aspect. How will Saxo Bank be able to sign Garzelli, when their roster is already filled up?

I will be the first to support the signing of one of my own personal riders, but looking at the UCI rules it simply doesn't seem possible. Right now Team Saxo Bank have 29 riders on contract, one of these being neo-pro Christopher Juul Jensen and according to UCI rule 2.15.110 a UCI ProTeam is only allowed to have 30 riders on contract if at least two of these are neo-pro riders. Stefano Garzelli is turning 39 years in 2012 so you can't hardly sign him as a neo-pro.

The only way Team Saxo Bank can sign Stefano Garzelli is if one of their riders suddenly retire (...Astana) and that seems very unlikely to happen.

It's a shame, but I can't see how Stefano Garzelli will be able to share the blue color with Alberto Contador and co. in 2012.

Unstoppable Alberto Contador

Alberto Contador aka El Pistolero.

Alberto Contador has been levels way above his opponents for last 3 years but according to Bjarne Riis and Contador's trainers there is still a lot to improve on the Spaniards performances. Not a little - A LOT, they say...

One of these improvements is Alberto Contador's time trial abilities. Contador has already won short as well as and long time trials in the Grand Tours, beating Fabian Cancellara in the Tour de France back in 2009, so imagine the machine he will become if he even has room for improvement in this discipline. One of the things Contador and his staff are working on is the position on the saddle, where an adjustment of only a couple of centimeters should be able to give Contador a better aerodynamic position and thereby win extra seconds.

Bjarne Riis has always been a perfectionist down to the smallest detail and helping Alberto Contador to a better position on the bike seems to open new doors for El Pistolero. I talk about the Olympics, where Contador already has pointed out he wants to aim at the time trial. With guys like Fabian Cancellara, Bradley Wiggins & Tony Martin you would expect Alberto Contador to pass on the challenge so close after the end of the Tour, but according to Contador himself he aims big on the Olympic time trial. It's going to be very interesting to see how that ends up...

Contador was unable to shake off
Rasmussen in the Tour 2007.

May I remind you that only one rider ever has been able to follow - and beat - Alberto Contador in the mountains, when Contador is on top of his game, and that was Michael Rasmussen back in 2007. Since that only Andy Schleck came close in 2010, but without a solid time trial performance Andy Schleck will never win the Tour. In 2012 there is almost 100 km of time trialing on the Tour-menu and when Alberto Contador is close to unbeatable in the mountains and takes time on all his main rivals (Wiggins and Martin don't stand a chance in the high mountains in my opinion) in the ITTs - who is going to beat him?

Last year Alberto Contador didn't start out preparing for the Tour, only the Giro, and see what happened. I too hope for a close run in the Tour de France this year, but I must be honest and say that I have absolutely no doubts that Alberto Contador, without crashes and incidents, will win his 4th Tour title in July this year.

Possible new cycling sponsors - part I

In the light of HTC’s and GEOX’ goodbye to cycling and the fusion between Radioshack and Leopard, I’ve taken a look at some new potential sponsors who all bring a big bag of money to the table.

Two of the most sold jerseys worldwide, sponsored by Bwin.

First up is the betting industry. Bookmakers all over the world are making tons of money every day on poker, casino and sports betting and are all looking for potential sports to sponsor. Bwin has been sponsoring the entire best Portuguese football league for years and are currently on the chest of worldwide known players like Ronaldo and Kaka. The financial details of the Portuguese league sponsorship haven’t been disclosed, but we do know that that the price for the coveted sponsor deal with Real Madrid gives the Spanish club €20 million a year. And this is only a visual deal. Have you ever mentioned Bwin when you are talking about Real Madrid? I know I haven’t… Imagine if they put just half of that amount into a cycling team where they will get the rights to the entire team name. €10 million is more or less the budget Team Sky (Bradley Wiggins & Mark Cavendish) and Liquigas (Ivan Basso & Vincenzo Nibali) have and a few millions more than Team Saxo Bank (Alberto Contador) and Lampre (Alessandro Petacchi & Damiano Cunego) have.

Team? Unibet weren't allowed shown on the tricot.

It’s a known fact that the bookmakers have plenty of money to spend on marketing so why aren’t any of them throwing their love (and money) at cycling? Well, as you might remember; Swedish bookmaker Unibet tried just that back in 2006. Unibet paid €6-8 million a year for their ProTour team sponsorship but ended up abandoning the sport again after only two years. The different countries’ gambling monopoly prevented Unibet to take part in any of the three Grand Tours and therefore they decided to leave. ”It's too bad that cycling has been troubling a sponsor that invests no less than €25,000,000 in the sport”, team manager Hilaire Van der Schueren said in 2007.

So why should the bookmakers come back and spend €8-10 million on a WorldTour team sponsorship? First of all, it’s important to remember that the very same gambling monopolies that ended up killing Team Unibet now are about to disappear thanks to the EU-wide legalizations on the gambling markets. Denmark, France, Spain etc. will all legalize gambling and public sports betting advertizing in 2012 and that means that the fear of being excluded from ex. the Tour de France due to a bookmaker sponsor is now gone.

Denmark was the first country to legalize gambling and that has had an immediate effect on the best football league which, in 2012, will be co-sponsored by the Scandinavian bookmaker Betsafe while the 2nd division will be renamed to “The Betsafe League”. According to my information Betsafe pays around €1 million for this sponsorship. The thing is that Betsafe is already a well known brand in Denmark. Wouldn’t it be great if they decided to spend their money on the Danish Team Saxo Bank and help securing one of those big names (Thor Husvhod, Tony Martin etc.) that Bjarne Riis didn’t have the money for as well?

Odds on the Tour de France 2012 at Betsafe.

There is one big bridge to cross though and that is the fact that cycling still is an absolute niche sport for the bookmakers. Most bookmakers are making red numbers on their cycling bets and the amount of money placed on the cycling markets are microscopically small compared to big sports like football and tennis. Still we must remember that despite this fact Unibet did think it was a good idea to sponsor a cycling team in the best league.

It might look like a dead end, but personally I believe that we will see bookmakers entering top cycling within the next couple of years. It might be too early – after the end of the gambling monopolies – in 2012 already, but I feel quite confident saying that the Tour de France 2014 will have a least one team sponsored by an online bookmaker on the start list, except for Lotto and FDJ of course.

Interview - Caroline Wozniacki talks cycling & anti-doping tests

Caroline Wozniacki - Number 1 in the world.

Caroline Wozniacki is the number one female tennis player in the world and knows what it takes to get to the top. I thought it would be interesting to get another view on cycling from an outstanding athlete of another sport. Therefore I made this quick, little interview with the Danish tennis darling.

Caroline, to start off, how much cycling do you watch?
Do be honest I don’t watch that much, but I do watch some of the stages of the Tour de France when it’s on. I think that the riders’ endurance is incredible and what they manage to do during the Tour is simply outstanding.

Do you have a favorite rider?
I remember I cheered for Bjarne Riis when he was in the Tour de France, but now I just support the Danish team [Team Saxo Bank].

Any specific cycling moments you remember?
Well, not a specific moment, more all of the things Lance Armstrong did in his career.

As number one in the world, you are used to the enormous pressure on your shoulders. How do you cope with that and do you see any parallels between tennis and cycling in that direction?
First of all you have to be mentally very strong to reach the top. It requires a lot mentally to be able to keep on pushing yourself in the difficult times. For what concerns me, I try to take it easy now. I know that I have already achieved a lot of great things, so I just try to enjoy every second of it. I have already achieved more than I have ever dreamed of! Now I just try to improve every day and see where it takes me.

To change the subject a little. It’s no secret that cycling is the sport with the most anti-doping tests per year. A rider like Fabian Cancellara had almost 60 tests last year. How many anti-doping tests did you have this season?
Actually I think it’s more than 30. So even though it’s not as many as in cycling, I still think that we are getting tested a lot. I don’t think it’s easier to cheat here since we are getting tested in every tournament we participate in.

Thanks to Caroline Wozniacki for taking time. I think it’s very interesting to notice the amount of anti-doping tests that Caroline, as number one in the world, had this season. People usually claims that big money sports like tennis and football don’t have the same amount of tests as cycling, and even though the number isn’t 60 like in the extreme case with Cancellara, I must say that 30 is a lot higher than I expected. Glad to be proven wrong. What concerns football, well, nothing has changed. According to UEFA, Barcelona had only 3 unexpected anti-doping controls last season.

Team Saxo Bank presentation: ”We will have a different focus in 2012”

New logo, new faces, new objectives but the same values. Team Saxo Bank presented today their team for 2012 in Copenhagen with a smiling and laughing Alberto Contador as front figure. From the moment he stepped on the stage, applauded by the audience, Contador was smiling and cracking jokes – a totally different scenario from just a week ago when he was defending himself against the doping charges in CAS.

So what’s new? Well all of you who followed my live tweets (and thanks for that!) already knows about the new logo, which I personally think looks good. Glad to see the eagle back in center again. In the beginning of his welcome speech Bjarne Riis put a lot of effort into explaining that the team would have some new objectives next year. Supposedly it’s not just about Alberto Contador winning the Tour. “We will have a different focus in 2012. We have a young Polish guy (Majka I guess) who we will see how far we can take in the Giro and then we want to build a lead out train for JJ. Haedo”, Bjarne Riis said.

Alberto Contador & Bjarne Riis

The different objectives also reflects in the activities for the up-coming training camp in Israel. “It will be a different program this time”, Riis continues. “We will stay there (in Israel) for two weeks where we will build a cycling school for kids with 2 classes. One Jewish and one Arabic. The plan is that the whole team (riders, managers, staff etc.) will be building this school within 2 days. Later on we will have a Criterium in the heart of Jerusalem. I have convinced the mayor and the police director to close down the center of Jerusalem so I’m really looking forward to seeing that”.

Personally I’m very excited about new idea about building a lead out train around Juan José Haedo. An idea that not even Haedo himself knew about for sure until today. “Actually I heard about it at the same time as you did. We have talked about it, but I didn’t know for sure until Bjarne said it at the presentation”, Haedo confesses and continues; “But of course I’m looking forward to it. It’s a new challenge for me, a step forward in my career. It gives me more confidence but we will have to practice a lot in order to take on the big teams. It’s going to be very interesting”.

Takashi Miyazawa

Another guy I’m looking forward to seeing in 2012 is newcomer Takashi Miyazawa. The Japanese puncheur knows that he is there to help his teammates but he is also a very aggressive type of rider who can both attack and sprint. So don’t be surprised to see him in the front when he gets the chance. You can follow Miyazawa on twitter at @Bravotakashi and I hope my mission on making him tweet in English and Italian will succeed! So far it has only been in Japanese… “Because I’m very famous back in Japan, but now I will try to be more international”, Miyazawa tells.

Biggest Danish name on the team this year is once again Chris Anker Sørensen, whose primary goal next year is “to win races”. As he explains: “I didn’t win anything this year and the Tour didn’t work out as we had hoped for either, so I really hope 2012 will be better. It would be amazing for me to take Alberto all the way to the Tour win on Champs-Élysées but of course I also want to win my own races. This year Christopher Froome ended 2nd in the Vuelta and he is rider on my level, so I just have to be ready to take the chance when it’s there”.

Well, that’s basically it for the team presentation. No breaking news or anything near that, but without a doubt a lot of hope for 2012 and for the training camp in Israel. Thanks for reading.

Explanation - Why Saxo Bank haven't signed a new star to help Contador

Contador really needs a strong climber - but who?

As everybody who read my interview with Jesus Hernandez knows, Alberto Contador really wants one more strong climber to help him in the mountains next year. Many could argue that Jesus Hernandez himself or team mate Dani Navarro should be that rider, but as shown during the 2011-season, that’s just not the case. And when Richie Porte decided to leave the team together with Gustav Larsson, it seemed clear Bjarne Riis had to get some reinforcements.


So far the newcomers who can help in the uphill sections are the two Portuguese riders, Bruno Pires and Sergio Paulinho. Even though they are both solid climbers, they are nowhere near the level requested by Contador. So how about a rider like Juanjo Cobo who has just won the Vuelta España and right now is without a team for next year after GEOX had pulled the plug on their sponsor deal or the other former GEOX-captain Denis Menchov? Well, the answer is simple: Riis has neither the money nor the desire to do so.

Let me explain:

First of all, it’s a common mistake to think that just because Saxo Bank boss Lars Seier Christensen said the Danish bank is willing to pump more money into the team if they come up with the right name, Bjarne Riis has a blank check waiting for him. “There is a clause in the contract saying that we will release more money for the team if Bjarne finds the right rider”, it was said at the press conference back in July this year.

Therefore, the real question is, what exactly does “the right rider” mean? Does it mean Bjarne Riis can just pick any available rider on the market and then turn to Saxo Bank for extra money? Or does it mean that if Riis manages to find the rider he is looking for Saxo Bank will help out with the salary? I back the latter…

Riis wanted Hushovd to join Contador

Think about it. During this year’s Tour de France, Bjarne Riis made no effort in hiding how interested he was in signing Thor Hushovd for 2012. Normally, the team may not have the necessary means but with Saxo Bank’s additional financial support this may change. Unfortunately for Riis, the BMC team had a lot more capital to operate with and Hushovd therefore chose to sign with them instead.

In fact it seems like Thor Hushovd wasn’t the only one Riis was chasing. At the 2012 Tour presentation he said: “There have been some riders I would have liked to sign, but financial problems and other stuff got in the way”.

It’s understandable that Bjarne Riis doesn’t have the same capital as a team like BMC but if Saxo Bank really was ready to pump more money into the team in order to get another ‘name’ on the roster, how can it be that a rider like Juanjo Cobo (who signed a €800.000 contract with GEOX just before the sponsor left) isn’t an option? Well, remember what I said about desire?... the same applies for Denis Menchov. Rumor has it he requests €1.80 million a year - not exactly desirable taking into account Saxo Bank already pays Alberto Contador around €5,00 million a year.

I talked with Team Saxo Bank’s press officer Anders Damgaard about it but unfortunately he couldn’t elaborate further since “that specific deal between the cycling team and Saxo Bank is confidential”.

Martin remains an opponent for Contador

Still it doesn’t take a genius to see that if Saxo Bank was willing to pay for the right rider, and Bjarne Riis has been chasing specific riders since July, well then the Dane’s mission hasn’t really been very successful, has it?

Tony Martin is another rider Bjarne Riis had hoped to get on the team with the extra bag of money from Saxo Bank but, like Hushovd, Martin decided elsewise.

So to answer the headline’s question, ‘why hasn’t Saxo Bank signed a new star to help Contador’. There are three reasons:

1. The extra money from Saxo Bank isn't just for 'any rider'.
2. Bjarne Riis hasn’t managed to close the deal with the riders he wanted to use the extra money for.
3. No ‘desirable’ riders are left on the market.