Bjarne Riis and Fabian Cancellara on talking terms as Riis looking to hire riders for next season
General Manager of team Saxo Bank Sungard, Bjarne Riis mentioned that he is ready to sign Fabian Cancellara in the coming seasons. Cancellara joined team Leopard Trek in 2011 as he left Saxo bank after five years. He joined the team in 2006 and has seen
a lot of success during his tenure with the team which ended in 2010.
Fabian left the team after he came to an agreement with Bjarne as he mentioned during an interview last year, “I would say that Fabian and I have made an agreement that he can be released from his contract. This means that he is not looking at our team for
next year.” Cancellara was still under contract when he decided to leave the team and join Leopard Trek. After leaving Saxo Bank his performance has not gotten any better. In fact there are rumours that the cyclist is not happy with his current team’s management
and is considering to change his squad for next season.
Ritzau news agency mentioned that the Swiss rider has apologised to Riis because he had to leave the team while he was under contract. Team Saxo Bank manager has accepted the apology as he mentioned that he has nothing against Cancellara even though he left
the team unprofessionally. He is ready to sign the rider as he believed that Fabian is a lot better rider than his performance this year and a little help can do wonders for him.
Riis said, “I think the people who know me know that I am always open to a dialogue with people who have turned their back on me. Whether it turns into something or not is another matter. If Fabian comes on one day and wants to talk, I'm ready for it.” Cancellara
won the bronze medal at the World Championships time trial race as he was 1:20:59 behind the race leader Tony Martin.
Minimum five cyclists are leaving team Saxo Bank by the end of this year and team management is looking for riders to fill in the gap as Jakob Fuglsang has also been contacted for the same. Jakob has shown interest to join the team but nothing can be done
as the rider is still under contract with Leopard Trek.
Bjarne believes that he will be able to fill in the vacant spots in his team as their will be few riders available after the RadioShack and Leopard Trek Merger in 2012. It will be interesting to see if Team Saxo Bank-Sungard succeeds to build up a strong
team for the coming season.
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