Saxo Bank may cancel team sponsorship
The Danish Cycling Union (DCU) looks at the big picture in the wake of Thursday’s announcement that three-time Tour de France winner Alberto Contador has tested positive in a control taken on the second rest day of the Tour de France.
“An unfortunate situation for all parties,” said the president of the DCU. “A very sad situation for cycling in general and especially for Bjarne Riis and Saxo Bank.”
Danish Saxo Bank had originally announced that its sponsorship of Bjarne Riis’ team, which hosted Andy Schleck at the Tour de France when he finished runner-up to Contador in 2009 and 2010, would not continue into the 2011 season.
“However the case ends, I hope that Bjarne Riis' team continues,” said the DCU’s Tom Lund, expressing his concern regarding the implications of the scandal: “I am thinking in particular of all the Danish riders, because it is extremely important for Danish
cycling that we have this amazing Danish team.”
The departure of the Schleck brothers to the new Luxembourg-based team was partially responsible for this, but when Riis masterfully swept in and signed Contador for two years, the team’s sportsmanship and recognition on the world
stage was confirmed, and the bank signed on for at least one more year.
“It's hard for us to comment on this, because we know no more than Contador has tested positive,” said bank spokesman Kasper Elbjørn to Danish news agency
Ritzau. “Therefore we have no other comment than that we are awaiting further information from Contador.”
Bjarne Riis and team CEO Trey Greenwood denied commenting on the revelation. Despite Contador’s Spanish nationality, the team has long been pushed as a truly Danish outfit, and most of their young-rider recruitment comes from the
local U23 teams.
“It's so far not an issue for Danish cycling, and the case must take its course,” said DCU director Jesper Worre to
politiken.dk. “But what interests us from a Danish point of view is that the team will continue and that it can provide some of the Danish riders more prominent roles."
Worre is a former rider and now the director of the DCU, having built a reputation for his anti-doping stance since he was suspended after a positive test in 1992. He has since made it a point of preventing others from making the same mistake.
“If he has taken this, then he must have his sentence – no matter who he is. And as we always say in these cases, it's good to see that the system works and that there is no difference between high and low.”
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