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Grand Tours without Contador?

Alberto Contador, Saxo Bank, UCI licenseNext year’s Grand Tours could be missing Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank (and therefore Alberto Contador) after the Danish team failed to make the grade for their WorldTour licence, leaving them fighting for wildcard places. The UCI award team points based, in part, on the performance of the top 12 riders and results from the two previous years although the exact criteria remains somewhat shrouded in mystery, with calls now for greater transparency from the governing body as to how such things are calculated. Under the current system Saxo Bank have certainly suffered from Contador’s ban for clenbuterol use and find themselves effectively classed as a second division squad with only wildcard chances of making the big races. The UCI’s position is made (fairly) clear in their press release which states: ‘The sporting criterion is crucial for the obtaining or retaining of UCI ProTeam status, in addition to compliance with ethical, financial and administrative criteria.’

 

Argos-Shimano, Lotto-Belisol, FDJ and Europcar all find themselves on the same ground as Saxo Bank going into 2013.

 

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Saxo Bank Name TdF Squad

Danish-based Team Saxo Bank have named their nine riders for this year’s Tour de France, they are: Juan José Haedo, Jonathan Cantwell, Nick Nuyens, Chris Anker Sørensen, Nicki Sørensen, Michael Mørkøv, Anders Lund, Karsten Kroon and Sergio Paulinho.

 

Commenting on the selection team owner Bjarne Riis comments: ‘…I believe we have found a great mix of experience, aggressiveness and different competencies… We will bring JJ (Argentina’s Juan José Haedo) for the sprints, and we have some trusted helpers around him. In Chris we have a rider with the potential to really influence the mountain stages and maybe he is even a guy to watch for the mountain jersey. And lead by Nick and Nicki we field a group of riders with both power and flair to go in breakaways.’

 

With Spanish rider Alberto Contador continuing to serve out his ban for doping offences at the 2010 TdF Team Saxo Bank approach the event with something of a strategic gap, but Riis clearly remains upbeat – ‘Of course this is a very different job waiting for us this year without a designated GC rider. But I see this as an exiting challenge and a possibility to take some risks that would have been practically impossible under other circumstances. I actually have a really good feeling about the Tour, and I don’t think it would be wise to underestimate our team.’

 

Image (c)Tim De Waele

 

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Saxo Banks on Contador (Again)

Danish-based Team Saxo Bank have officially announced that disgraced Spanish cyclist Alberto Contador will rejoin them on August 5, following the serving out of his suspension for doping offences which dated back to the 2010 TdF. Following a tortuously protracted period which saw the 29-year-old initially cleared by the Spanish Cycling Federation – who believed the story that he had accidentally ingested the performance-enhancer Clenbuterol via contaminated meat – the Saxo Bank star was finally found guilty by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) following appeals by both the UCI and The World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada). The verdict saw Contador banned from the sport for a two year period, but much of it retrospectively meaning he is free to rejoin his former team later this summer.

 

The new deal with Saxo Bank ties Contador to the team until the end of the 2015 season. Commenting on his return, team owner Bjarne Riis says: ‘A lot of speculations and rumors have surrounded Alberto Contador and his future in the past months, but both our sponsors, the team and Alberto have shared the same wish to continue and built on our relationship. All along throughout these last two tough years we have stood by Alberto, so to be able to announce his return to the team is something I have been really looking forward to.’

 

Unsurprisingly Contador seems more than happy with the situation, commenting: ‘The support I have experienced from (Bjarne Riis and the team) in a very difficult situation is extraordinaire. I’m really looking forward to getting back on the bike, and my aim is to repay that support, hopefully with some great results…’

 

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Cantwell Crashes Out

A week of very mixed fortunes for Team Saxo Bank, earlier this week it was announced that they would be allowed to continue to hold their World Tour licence (which was in doubt after the Alberto Contador doping affair), but now they have lost, at least temporarily, another rider to injury. At the finish line of the semi-classic Scheldeprijs yesterday (April 4), their Australian rider Jonathan Cantwell failed to pull up sharply enough when two other riders crashed heavily in front of him.

 

Although initially thought to be virtually unhurt it soon became apparent things were somewhat more serious. Saxo Bank’s Sports Director Nick Gates: ‘Johnny (Cantwell) had e very unfortunate fall but after having rested in the bus we thought he was ok. But as he started complaining about increasing chest pain we called for an ambulance that brought him to the hospital where they reported that his lunge had collapsed. Luckily, there are no fractures and under the circumstances he feels ok but he has to take a break from training and racing for an unknown period of time. A very unfortunate outcome as he was in great shape.’ Cyclo will keep you posted…

 

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Race Back on for Saxo Bank

What must have been an agonizing wait for Team Saxo Bank is finally over with the announcement yesterday (April 2) that they would be allowed to retain their World Tour license through 2012. Problems arose after Alberto Contador was given a retrospective two-year ban by the Court of Arbitration for Sport in February for doping violations and stripped of his 2010 TdF title; with the Spaniard’s points accounting for around 68 percent of the team’s total this would have left Saxon Bank outside of the qualifying criteria.

 

However, after considering the ‘extraordinaire and unprecedented situation’ the License Commission have declaired that a withdrawal of the license would not be justified. The team’s owner Bjarne Riis issued a statement declaring: ‘We respect the decision made by the License Commission, and we are of course both relieved and happy about the result. We very much think this is the right decision given the whole situation that caused the re-evaluation of our license. Now we very much look forward to putting all our energy, effort and focus back on running the team and racing again, and for the first time in more than one and a half year we are actually able to do so 100 percent.’

 

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Team Up

The last remaining pieces of 2012 team shapes are falling into place with just a couple of weeks left until the traditional UCI Tour opener, the Santos Tour Down Under (January 15-22). Team Saxo Bank have signed a two-year deal with Christopher Juul-Jensen, the 22-year-old half-Dane, half-Irish winner of the 2011 Nations Cup in Canada and second-placer at the Danish Nation U23 Road Race. Meanwhile Vuelta a Espana winner Juan Jose Cobo – who was left squad-less after the collapse of Geox last October – has confirmed his much anticipated signing with Movistar; the new team will be officially presented on January 4 in Madrid.

 

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Jerusalem Shut-down

Yesterday saw a close-down for the first time of the old city of Jerusalem as it staged a two-lap, 40 minute criterium – a course described as ‘a very demanding circuit’. Both Saxo Bank and the Israeli elite squad were in attendance, but it was the former that dominated proceedings with their Spanish star Alberto Contador (celebrating his birthday) taking the top of the podium.

 

Commenting on the win and his time in the country, Contador said, ‘I’m extremely happy to be here in the first place. This first week of my stay here, I’ve experienced nothing but great support in a fascinating country. Both in Akko when we were doing the cycling school project and here in Jerusalem, people have been very supportive of us. It makes me proud being the first ever to win a criterium here in Jerusalem.’

 

Less fortunate was Contador’s team mate Chris Anker Sørensen who crashed spectacularly (and very heavily) on the first lap – the Danish rider was rushed to hospital but it was later reported that he had suffered no serious injury. ‘We’re relieved that we have him back on the road in no time.’ said team owner, Bjarne Riis.

 

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Saxon Bank Cycle for Peace

This week saw the opening of a new Israeli cycling school in Akko; the project co-established by Team Saxo Bank and the Peres Center for Peace is intended to bring a range of cycling activities to both Jewish and Muslim children in an area previously troubled by segregation. Alberto Contador was on hand for the opening and clearly enjoying the change of pace from the recent fraught weeks: ‘It’s been a lot of fun working with the kids today. I enjoy seeing how easily they smile and have a good time in spite of their differences and in spite the lack of cycling experience as many never rode a bike before coming here today. So the project is about helping these kids to a healthy lifestyle and to teach them to navigate in the streets and in life.’ commented the Spaniard.

 

Commenting on the long process to establish the school Bjarne Riis, Saxon Bank’s owner added “It’s been a long journey through the night but we came through and the school was ready when the kids arrived. I saw them really having a good time and they were drawn to the bike and the new challenge and I hope they’ll continue using the place and continue leading an active life. It’s been a huge goal for me and the team to get this project done and the whole team made it happen by hard and effective team work.”