Bjarne Riis briefed that he is not trying to sign Fabian Cancellara for the season ahead
Team Saxo-Bank Tinkoff Bank General Manager Bjarne Riis has rejected the news of Fabian Cancellara joining the Danish squad for the 2013 season.
"I always tell my riders not to burn their bridges when they leave," Riis told the Ritzau news agency.
"And I think he did that last year, but the world is not so big that you don't meet again. 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".
"We have become both wiser and older," said Riis to the Swiss newspaper. "All teams will be interested in getting Fabian Cancellara. But for now he has a contract".
The Swiss lead the Tour de France overall classifications for six consecutive days and was finally dropped down by Bradley Wiggins.
He abandoned the Tour de France to attend the birth of his son and went to his hometown which also gave birth to a new controversy.
Swiss media reported that Cancellara will consider switching to a new team, preferably Team Saxo Bank, mainly because of the financial issues faced by his current side, Team RadioShack-Nissan.
Fabian marked his professional debut in 2001 with Team Mapei-Quick Step and spent a period of two years with the team.
He accepted a three-year offer from Team Fassa Bortolo through 2003-2005 before accepting an offer from Team CSC in 2006.
The Swiss stayed with the side until the end of 2010 and finally accepted an offer from Team Leopard Trek in 2011.
Team Leopard Trek and Team RadioShack announced their merger in 2012 and Cancellara’s credentials were good enough to make it through the final team squad.
The 31-year-old is the only cyclist in the team who has been able to help the side in the first half of the season.
He wins the Swiss National Time Trial Championships, the Strand Bianche, stage 7 of the Tirreno-Adriatico, finished second at the Milan-San Remo and also managed to secure the first overall spot at the opening prologue of the Tour de France 2012.
The Luxembourg team is having a lot of issues and leaving its star rider is not amongst them, Johan Bruyneel has been accused of trafficking UCI banned substances.
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