Rumours that the Saxo Bank team was under pressure to increase its budget have been confirmed by the team’s managing director Trey Greenwood. “Do we need more money to keep at this level?” he said to Feltet.dk. “I think we can stay there for a while yet. But times are changing and there are more teams and more competition for everyone. In the long run, we certainly need more money. "
The team will lose seven riders at the end of the year, with Karsten Kroon (BMC), Jurgen Van Goolen (Predictor-Lotto), Lars Bak (Team Columbia HTC), Matthew Goss (Team Columbia HTC), Kurt Asle Arvesen (Team Sky) Jason McCartney (Team RadioShack) and Lasse Bøchman all departing. It has taken on three, namely Jonas Aaen Jorgensen (Team Capinordic), Laurent Didier (Team Designa Kitchen) and Baden Cooke (Vacansoleil).
Three factors have increased the pressure on Saxo Bank; the collapse of co-sponsor IT Factory, the greater marked prices generated by the arrival of big teams such as Team Sky and Radio Shack, plus the increasing success of riders like Fabian Cancellara and Andy Schleck. The latter two factors have the effect of increasing the value of the riders and thus tightening the budget.
"We have lost some riders that we did not want to lose,” admitted Greenwood. “The market situation in cycling has also changed. There has been a couple of new teams, and therefore the market value of riders has risen sharply since the teams need these riders. They have a need for intermediate riders who have experience as leaders who can bring important things with a new team. "
However he is encouraged by the entry of big sponsors like Sky, and hopes that more will get involved with the sport. A replacement for IT Factory would certainly take the pressure off the team.