Team Saxo Bank on the verge of losing its World Tour license as Alberto Contador departs
Team Saxo Bank’s biggest night mare came true on Monday, when CAS handed a two-year ban to its star rider Alberto Contador.
The ban prohibits the cyclist to ride professionally any time before the 5th of August, which means that he will miss out on most of the important cycling events this year.
The Danish squad signed the Spaniard in 2010 and it was his third consecutive season with the side.
He secured a number of victories for the team, including a Grand Tour win during the previous season.
The 29-year-old won the overall classifications at the Giro d’ Italia 2011 and finished fifth at the Tour de France in the same year.
He has now been disqualified from the victories after the judges made the ruling against him.
Not only that, Team Saxo Bank-Sungard has lost a world class cyclist for the coming season but also, the points earned by the cyclist are void.
Alberto helped Bjarne Riis’ team with some very crucial points and his exit could mean the team might lose its license to ride at the top level of sport.
UCI is expected to review the team’s license. According to the section 2.15.040.2 of the UCI rules, it is stated that a Professional Team’s license can be revoked considering certain rules.
It states, "If the information taken into account in granting the licence or the registration of the UCI ProTeam has changed such that the issue conditions are no longer fulfilled”.
“Or the commission considers that the new situation does not justify the issue of a licence or registration," it continues.
A total amount of 68 percent points by the team were scored by Contador and his exit will definitely result in the review of the team’s World Tour license.
Team Saxo Bank supported the Spaniard throughout the 2011 season, despite the Tour de France 2010 doping allegations.
Team Manager Bjarne Riis shared his grievances and explained that the CAS results brought a lot of disappointments for the whole team.
He explained, "The result was obviously not what we had hoped for, but for now our management team is still in the process of reviewing the ruling and the documentation".
Both Riis and Contador have called a press conference in Madrid to share their point of view regarding the decision.
The conference is scheduled on February 7th, 2012, which will be the cyclist’s first media interaction since the imposition of the ban.
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