Nicki Sorensen commented on Team Saxo Bank’s World Tour license
The entire squad of Team Saxo Bank is under immense pressure after UCI announced to reconsider the team’s World Tour license since the exit of Aberto Contador.
Danish cyclist Nicki Sorensen is riding with the team since 2001 and is totally disappointed about the current crisis faced by the team.
Team Manager Bjarne Riis appeared before the UCI licensing commission to ensure that the team continues to enjoy the top level of sport during the current season.
Team Saxo Bank earned the 9th overall spot with 696 overall points at the UCI Team’s ranking during the previous season.
Alberto Contador claimed the third overall position at the Elite Men category of the race and helped the team with 471 UCI points.
Court of Arbitration for Sport banned Alberto Contador from professional cycling for a period of two-years after UCI and WADA launched an appeal against the cyclist.
The jury was convinced that Contador used clenbuterol during the Tour de France 2010 and made their final verdict in February 2012.
The ban prohibits the Spaniard from riding until August 2012 and has also stripped him off from all his victories since the 2010 Tour victory.
The disqualification means the Danish team loses all the points earned by him during the previous season.
That leaves the squad in a situation where its World Tour license will be re-evaluated by the authorities.
Nicki shared his thoughts on the issue, “I had probably expected that the signals we got from similar cases with findings of clenbuterol by athletes would lead to an acquittal. For a team like ours, it is of course of tremendous importance to be without a rider like him”.
“I would be lying if I said that the meeting of the UCI licence commission is not something we talk about. Without Alberto on the team, there are many riders who must take a step up the ladder, but they are coming,” he concluded.
Sorensen explained that his teammates, Dani Navarro, Chris Anker, Rafael Majka, Jaroslaw Marycz and Jonas Aaen, are all capable of filling in for Contador in the Danish side.
Only time will tell if UCI allows Team Saxo Bank to continue racing with the World Tour license during the 2012 season.
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