Saxo Bank has a cadre of budding Danish hopefuls in its ranks, from Matti Breschel to Jakob Fuglsang to last year's Japan Cup winner, Chris Anker Sørensen: Saxo Bank is the home of Danish talent.
This May's Giro d'Italia was supposed to be 25-year-old Sørensen's first big shot at glory, and yet another confirmation of Bjarne Riis' powers of development. Over the winter, Bjarne Riis confirmed his faith in the young Dane's talents with a three-year contract extension, then furthered that with the admission that Sørensen would lead the Saxo Bank charge at the Giro: "In May, the time is ripe for him to even have a chance of running his own chance as a leader of the Team Saxo Bank line-up for the Giro d'Italia."
Then it all went awry. Sørensen suffered a major blow to his Giro hopes when he crashed heavily in Stage 6 of the Vuelta a Catalunya, a crash that resulted in a fractured collarbone. The immediate aftermath of the crash called his start in the Giro into question, let alone his hopes for a high overall finish.
Fast forward seventeen days, and things have taken a distinct turn toward the better. Sørensen's aspirations for general classification glory are still more or less in ruins, but the much hoped for start at the Giro seems to be a solid possibility - and he still hopes to vie for a major result along the way:
"My form is still good. Of course, it's not good enough for a podium place anymore, but I feel that I am ready to race as soon as I get the 'go' from the doctors...I have a lot of kilometers in my legs, and so I dream of a mountain stage victory at the end of the race."
After that, Sørensen wants to be a part of what should be an eventful trip around France for the Saxo Bank team in July: "Hopefully, I can get in super shape, so I can help the Schleck brothers in the Tour de France."