Bjarne Riis to defend Team Saxo Bank’s World Tour license on February 27, 2012
Team Saxo Bank Sungard received the biggest shock of the season after CAS banned its star rider, Alberto Contador for a period of two years.
The cyclist was also stripped-off from all the victories since the Tour de France, which voids all of his UCI points earned in the past season.
Contador cannot ride until August 2012 and will miss most of the major cycling events of the season, including the Tour de France, Giro d’ Italia and the London Olympics.
As many as 67 % of the total points earned by the Danish team came through Contador and the Team’s World Tour status is at stake since his ineligibility.
The team claimed the 8th overall position with 689 UCI points after the UCI WorldTour Team’s rankings 2011. The team ends up at the 18th overall spot, after subtracting Contador’s points.
UCI rule suggests that the top 15 teams continue to enjoy their World Tour license while the next five teams are evaluated in terms of financial, administrative and ethical criteria.
Pierre Zapelli, President of the UCI President commission, explained the situation to Sporten.dk, "If a team is between 16th and 20th in the ranking, we must decide which of those are licensed. We issue only 18 licenses, so we must exclude two of the teams".
"If Team Saxo Bank did not have Contador's points, they did not have enough points to compete among the best 20 teams, and they would not have received a license," he added.
Enrico Carpani, the UCI press officer, confirmed that Saxo Bank’s representatives will appear in front of the UCI License Commission on Monday to discuss the issue.
He cited, "A hearing will take place on Monday, but as the Licence Commission operates independently of the UCI, we cannot say when the final decision will be made".
Team Saxo Bank’s press officer Anders Damgaard also confirmed the news and briefed that the Danish team is currently compiling the paper work to be presented on the February 27, 2012.
The team’s General Manager, Bjarne Riis is positive that the team will continue the 2012 season with the World Tour license as he looks ahead to defend his team in the coming week.
Tags: