Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank’s chances at the Vuelta a Espana 2012
Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank is having a disappointing season with not many notable victories in its bag after the first half of the season.
The team is now looking ahead towards the third and the last Grand Tour race of the season, the Vuelta a Espana and return of Contador can really do the magic for the team.
Alberto Contador helped the team with the maximum number of wins in the past season and his exclusion from the squad made things really difficult for the Danish side.
Court of Arbitration for Sport banned Contador from professional cycling for a period of two-years.
He was blamed of using clenbuterol improve his performance at the 2010 edition of the French Grand Tour.
The case faced a lot of setbacks and the final decision on the matter was made earlier in 2012.
The jury was convinced that Alberto cheated during the Tour de France 2010 (a race he won) and banned him from the sport.
He was also stripped-off from all the victories since the 2010 edition of the Tour and the ban disallowed him from riding all the major cycling events of the season including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia and the biggest of them all, the 2012 Olympic
Games.
The only major cycling event he is allowed to take part in is the Vuelta a Espana and his Team Manager Bjarne Riis is optimistic that the cyclist can help the team with one big win they need to make up for the lost time.
The 29-year-old returned to professional cycling at the Eneco Tour where he started the race relatively slow avoiding accidents and ensuring his best form for his home Grand Tour.
"The sole objective [at the Vuelta] is to win the general classification with Alberto Contador," Riis told the team website.
"Alberto has shown strength back at the Eneco Tour and has regained match fitness. He is ready to win this final grand tour of the season”.
"The selection of our squad for the Vuelta is obviously closely in line with that clear goal”.
“We have tried to put together a group of riders who can help Alberto throughout the race, both on the flat stages and in the mountains”.
Nevertheless, Contador managed to secure a fourth overall position after the final general classifications at the Eneco Tour 2012.
Lars Boom wins the race with Sylvain Chavanel finishing 26 seconds behind at the second position and Niki Terpstra holding the third position in the respective order.
Final squad for Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank for the Vuelta a Espana include, Alberto Contador, Nicki Sorensen, Matteo Tosatto, Rafal Majka, Sergio Paulinho, Bruno Pires, Benjamin Noval, Jesus Hernandez and Dani Navarro.
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