Rory Sutherland joins Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank for 2012
Bjarne-Riis continuous to expand his team’s roaster for 2013 season and Rory Sutherland is the latest inclusion in Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank for the season ahead.
The Australian is having a terrific season and first victory of the season came during the opening stage of the Tour of Gila as he managed to occupy the top podium position after the final general classifications at the race.
He also managed to secure stages at the Tour of Utah and the USA Pro Cycling Challenge followed by an overall victory at the Tour of the Gila 2012.
The 30-year-old marked his professional debut with Team Rabobank in 2003 and spent a period of three-years with the team.
He was tested positive for Clomiphene, which is on the WADA’s ban list but is not a performance enhancing drug as believed by the medical experts.
Rory faced a nine month conditional ban from the Belgian Cycling Federation in 2006 and returned to international scene in 2007 with Team Health Net-Maxxis currently known as Team UntiedHealthcare.
"I've been putting the decision off every year and not really pushing to try and make the move to a WorldTour team and this is the time to do it and I'm very happy with what I'm going in to," he told Cyclingnews.
"All these guys that raced for quite a while in the US until their late 20's, early 30's and then they've decided at some point that ‘hey, are we going to sit in this intermediate place of a Pro Continental team or are we going to take the leap of faith?'"
Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank is having a disappointing season and could not really prove its abilities throughout the 2012 season.
It currently holds the 15th overall position after the UCI World Tour Team’s rankings with a total number of 385 UCI points to its credit.
Alberto Contador (290 points), Matteo Tosatto (30 points), Chris Anker Sorensen (30 points), Juan Jose Haedo (21 points) and Mads Christensen (14 points) made the maximum contributions.
Even an overall victory at the Vuelta a Espana 2012 could not improve the team’s performance, because of the UCI rule that suggests that points earned by any cyclist returning from a doping ban will not accumulate towards the team for two years.
Other cyclists to join Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank in 2012 include, Nicolas Roche (Team AG2R La Mondiale), Daniele Bennati (Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank) whereas, David Tanner has left the Danish team and has moved to Team Rabobank for 2013 season.
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