Bjarne Riis admired Lars Bak’s Giro win
The twelfth stage victory at the Giro d’Italia 2012 boosted Lars Bak’s confidence for the remaining part of the season.
The cyclist’s tremendous performance not only received appreciation from within the team but also other team’s have praised his effort.
Bjarne Riis of Team Saxo Bank has noted that his young team should learn from the performance of the young Danish rider.
Bak started his professional crusade with Team Fakta in 2002 and stayed with the side by the end of 2003.
He also represented Team BankGiroLoterij (2004), Team CSC (2005-09), Team HTC-Columbia (2010-11) and accepted an offer from Team Lotto-Belisol for the 2012 season.
The 32-year rode also bagged a Giro stage in the past season after his splendid performance during the team’s time trial, stage 1 of the race.
Bjarne Riis is having a difficult season after his star rider Alberto Contador was handed a two-year ban due to doping in the Tour de France 2010.
The final decision on the case was made in February and the judges were convinced that he used unfair means during his career.
The jury also disqualified him from all the victories since the 2010 version of the French Grand Tour and Alberto cannot return to professional cycling until August 5th, 2012.
The ban prevents Contador from riding all the major cycling events including the Giro d’Italia, the Tour de France and the 2012 Olympic Games.
Almost 70 % of the total points earned by Team Saxo Bank in the past season came through the Spaniard and his departure has left Riis with very limited options.
Bjarne had no other option but to depend on his young guns until the Spaniard’s ban is over.
On the other hand, Team Sky has shown interest towards signing Lars for the coming seasons.
Ekstra Bladet quoted Bjarne as saying, “I would like to see even more riders – even among my own – have the same sense of fight as Lars Bak”.
“He says to himself: Now I'm going to go out and do it. Lar Bak did it and fought for it until he got his way. That's what it takes”.
“The young riders in the field can really learn something from a guy like Lars Bak”.
“He continues to push himself – and if you have the will, the results will come sooner or later. That's how you should ride a race, I think”, he concluded.
Lars’ performance during the stage 12 of the Giro has really made him a popular man and a number of team’s have shown interest towards signing him for the coming season including Team Sky.
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