Bjarne Riis almost collapsed after the series of mishaps in the earlier part of 2012
Team Saxo Bank Manger Bjarne Riis faced the worst crisis of her life after becoming the centre of numerous professional setbacks.
First it was Alberto Contador who faced a two-year suspension for using drugs during the Tour de France 2010 followed by a possible loss of the UCI World Tour license for Team Saxo Bank.
Bjarne Riis’ worries continued when he had to find a new sponsor for the team and the Dane stayed firm and used all his experience to overcome the situation.
Alberto Contador helped Team Saxo Bank with numerous victories in the past season and almost 70% of the total points earned by the side came through the Spaniard.
Court of Arbitration for Sport not only handed him a two-year but also stripped-off all his victories since the 2010 version of the Tour.
Losing Contador’s points started new worries for the Team Manager Bjarne Riis as it almost cost him the UCI World Tour status along with losing the best cyclist in his team.
“I was totally down and close to a complete collapse,” Riis briefed during an interview with the Danish broadcaster TV2.
“I spent the whole day lying in my bed with drawn curtains, because it was impossible to grasp,” he said.
“I could not see an end to it. If they take our license, the entire life's work I've done ... it falls apart”.
Team Sports Director Philippe Mauduit told Ritzau news agency that “He [Riis] told us at a meeting: I need you to take a little over”.
The cyclists were not told as “they should only focus on the sport. My job is to make sure that the boys are physically and mentally on top”.
Alberto is returning to professional cycling on August 5th and it was believed that the cyclist might sign up with a different team to continue the remaining part of the 2012 season.
However, Bjarne has succeeded in retaining Contador for the coming part of the season, even though the points earned by the Spaniard for the coming two years will not be count towards the team’s total.
Team Saxo Bank found a new co-sponsor Tinkoff Bank for the remaining part of the season and UCI has also allowed the side to continue enjoying its World Tour license for the remaining part of the season.
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