VeloNation reported more than a week ago the possibility of Saxo Bank stars Andy and Frank Schleck parting ways with Bjarne Riis in 2011. This was based on reports from the Gazzetta dello Sport which indicated the brothers intend to create a new team next year. The paper named Marc Biver as the team manager and current Saxo Bank director Kim Anderson as the senior sports director.
When asked about the story in the Italian paper Schleck told Tageblatt, "Oh? Not that I know," shrugging off the news. Biver also said he was in preliminary talks about starting a team, but neglected to mention anything about Andy or Frank Schlecks possible involvement.
Today Biver has confirmed to French newspaper l'Equipe that he is interested in bringing the Schleck brothers on board if the team materializes. "A Luxembourg cooperation would not be a bad idea," he said. He admits to mentioning the possibility of them being involved adding, "But I haven't asked anything inappropriate, and there has been no decision."
Biver, 58, was born in Luxembourg but moved to French speaking Switzerland at the age of eight. He took over the Astana cycling team, formerly Manolo Saiz's Liberty Seguros team, in the wake of the Operacion Puerto scandal. The following year he was forced to step down after several high profile doping cases that included Matthias Kessler, Eddy Mazzoleni, Alexandre Vinokourov and Andrei Kaschekin.
Biver said he's in talks with a company from Luxembourg, which means that a collaboration between the three would make perfect sense. Still many details have to be worked out before the team is a reality, but the hardest part, finding a title sponsor, is advancing. World time trial champion and close friend of the Schlecks Fabian Cancellara has also been linked to the team, but he currently holds a contract with Riis' team through 2011. Riis has yet to find a replacement sponsor for Saxo Bank, whose sponsorship runs out at the end of 2010.