Tinkov wants to re-construct Team Saxo Bank
Team Saxo Bank joined hands with Tinkoff Bank to form Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank in the second half of the 2012 season.
Oleg Tinkov is the main sponsor behind the bank and he has shown interest towards rebuilding Team Saxo Bank and making it one of the strongest World Tour teams.
The Danish squad has been through a very bitter time right through the start of the 2012 season but the things now seem better since the new sponsor joined in.
First it was Alberto Contador who faced a two-year suspension for using clenbuterol in 2010 and Court of Arbitration for Sport stripped-off all his previous wins.
The cyclist missed all the important cycling races of the season including the 2012 Olympic Games, the Tour de France and the Giro d’Italia 2012.
The only important race he is allowed to participate in the current season is the Vuelta a Espana 2012 and the Spaniard is warming up to participate at his home Grand Tour.
Almost 70% of the total points earned by the team came through Alberto and his disqualifications also invalidated all the points and UCI had to reanalyse the team’s World Tour status.
Bjarne Riis was lucky enough as UCI allowed it to enjoy the World Tour licence throughout the 2012 season. While speaking to the Danish media Tinkov showed interest towards signing Fabian Cancellara for the coming season.
"I like Cancellara, and of the sprinters, I like Mark Cavendish,” he told ekstrabladet.dk. "That does not mean that we will try to buy them because they are under contract with other teams. But maybe we will in the future".
"Now we are building a team around Contador, I can understand, and then we will look at the possibilities, for example, if a team collapses," he continued.
“I always used to admire how Mr. Riis ran the business,” Tinkov cited earlier. “To me he is the best team leader in the word and it was always my dream to work with him”.
The new sponsor is also keen on to signing Mikhail Ignatiev of Team Katusha and Vasili Kiryienka of Team Movistar for the coming season.
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