Bjarne Riis hopeful to sign Alberto Contador for the coming part of the 2012 season
Bjarne Riis is hopeful to sign Alberto Contador with his return to the sport expected on August 5th, 2012.
The Spaniard was a strong part of the Team Saxo Bank and helped the team with his tremendous all round performances in the past season.
Almost 70 % of the total points earned by the team in 2011 came through the strong legs of Contador which gives a clear picture of how much essential he is for the Team Manager Bjarne Riis.
Court of Arbitration for Sport banned Contador for using Clenbuterol during the Tour de France 2012 and handed him a two year ban.
The jury also disqualified him from all the victories since the Tour de France 2010 and restricted him from riding until August 5th, 2012.
The ban stops Alberto from riding most of the major cycling events of the season including the Giro d’Italia, the Tour de France and the 2012 Olympic Games.
The only major cycling race he is capable to ride in the season is the Vuelta a Espana 2012 starting from August 20th, 2012.
Team Saxo Bank General Manager is aware of the fact that a number of sides are interested to sign Alberto including Team Astana, Team RadioShack and Team Movistar.
Riis told Cyclingnews, "When I have something concrete to say then I'm going to say it”.
“We're working on it and of course I want him to stay in the team. This is what both parties want. Of course there's lots of speculation but I have good feeling".
He further added that, "There have been reasons for that. As far as I understand there are also the UCI rules that we have to follow on what we can do”.
“Hopefully we'll have something soon but I'm looking around".
The 29-year-old started his professional pursuit with Team ONCE-Eroski in 2003 and stayed with the team by the end of 2006.
He also represented Team Discovery Channel (2007), Team Astana (2008-10) and penned a deal with the Danish side, Team Saxo Bank-SunGard in 2011.
The cyclist’s disqualification was a real setback for Team Saxo Bank and it will be interesting to see if Riis manages to get the team’s strengths back for the remaining part of the season.
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