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.

Favorites for Tour Down Under 2012

The cycling season is finally about to start with Santos Tour Down Under and to celebrate that I’ve made a little list with my three personal favorites for the overall classification. I will most likely give tips to selected stages during the race so don't forget to check back soon!


1. Simon Gerrans
The GreenEDGE-captain has already won the race (back in 2006) and seems to be as strong as ever this early in the season. His impressive win in the Australian championships showed that Gerrans has the right punch in his legs right now and with the finishes in Stirling (stage2) and on Willunga Hill (stage5) this year’s route really seems to fit the little Aussie. Not to metion that Simon Gerrans must be more motivated than ever riding in the colors of the new GreenEDGE team on home soil.

2. Michael Rogers
Next rider up is another Aussie. Michael Rogers lost his 2011-season to injuries but is now back in shape and ready to win. Like Simon Gerrans, Rogers also showed great legs in the national championships, on the time trial, where he ended 3rd only 16 seconds behind U-23 World Champion Luke Durbridge. One could argue that Team Sky already have Edvald Boasson Hagen for the overall classification, but according to the Norwegian it is Michael Rogers who is the captain. Rogers wants to win and I have no doubts his team will back him. Remember Rogers isn’t that slow in a sprint in a smaller group either. Look out for him on Willunga Hill.

3. Alejandro Valverde
After being out for two years Alejandro Valverde is now right back in the peloton and according to his teammates he is extremely motivated to show he still has got what it takes to win races. Normally Valverde would be the main favorite a race like this year’s Tour Down Under, but after being out for two years it’s difficult to predict. I think Valverde will be ready, but it might take a couple of months before he’s got his old race rhythm back. Stages like the one in Sterling and on Willunga Hill will show just how good the Spaniard is already.

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.

More spectacular 'rampas' in the Vuelta

On next Wednesday, the 11th of January, this year's Vuelta España route will be presented in Pamplona but before knowing everything we have already at least two stages to look forward to. The last couple of years stage finishes like the one in Valdepeñas de Jaén - and especially last year's found in San Lorenzo El Escorial - have given us great drama on the final kilometers and that seems to continue in 2012.

The finish in El Escorial last year -28% !

I'm talking about stage 6 (to el Fuerte de Rapitán in Huesca) and stage 12 (to el Mirador de Ézaro in A Coruña). Especially the stage in Galicia to el Mirador de Ézaro looks frightening with 'rampas' up to 30% and 12,7% in average on the last 2 km - 14% on the final kilometer. A lot like what we saw in El Escorial last year I suppose.

The finish on stage 6 to el Fuerte Rapitán is 2,8 km long with 7,5% in average and comes right after the Cat3 climb Puerto de Oroel, which according to former top climber Fernando Escartin, isn't very difficult, but has a very fast downhill with a lot of corners. "Therefore it's very important to be positioned in the front already on Puerto de Oroel if you want to have a chance to win the stage", Escartin points out in today's AS.

We will know a lot more about these two stages and the rest of the Vuelta course next Wednesday, but it sure seems like we - and riders like Purito, Valverde, Antón & Gilbert - have a lot to look forward to!

Real cyclists eat honey

In a week where we learned that Cadel Evans and his wife have decided to adopt an Ethiopian boy I thought it might interest a few to know what honey can do to a cyclist.

New Iranian studies shows that men who ate honey before training had lower levels of free radicals (which may indicate cell damage) in their semen after 8 weeks. 39 men aged 18-28 years participated in this study where half of them were given 70 g of honey 1½ hours before training.

According to the author of the study Behzad Hajizadeh Maleki, M.Sc.; “it may be possible that the honey supplementation following long-term intensive cycling training would be effective in attenuating the probable aggravating effects of intensive cycling training on spermatogenesis and fertility capacity in the road cyclists”.

On a site note, I can add that Alberto Contador will be given his own weight in honey on January 7 next year for winning the Spanish award "Su Peso en Miel”. And not only that, Contador will also be weighted with the six bikes on which he won his biggest victories.

The Spanish Giro, Tour and Vuelta-winner got married about a month ago but according to Contador he is not thinking about starting a family just yet. “Right now I don’t think about kids, I just concentrate on riding my bike”, he told me at the team presentation in November.

Well, at least he shouldn’t have any problems when he changes his mind if the “honey effect” really works…

Merry Christmas

I just want to take the time and wish everybody reading this blog a Very Merry Christmas! I truely appreciate your support and I promise to make an effort in making every article better than the last one.

Enjoy Christmas with your friends and family.

See you soon...

Mikkel