Luxembourg brothers both departing Bjarne Riis' team, but new team still under wraps for now
The worst kept secret in cycling was confirmed last night, according to wort.lu, with Andy Schleck admitting that he and elder brother Fränk are to be leaving the Saxo Bank team at the end of the season. It has long been rumoured that the two brothers would be leaving the team that Andy has ridden his entire professional career for, and Fränk almost all of his, to set up a new team in their native Luxembourg.
“I can now definitely say that, in the coming season, I will no longer be with Saxo Bank and Bjarne Riis,” Schleck confirmed. “What the new team is I can’t say yet, but the public will certainly know soon enough.”
Schleck is reluctant to confirm his destination and Kim Anderson, a director with Riis’ team for many years and now the man behind the new team was surprised to hear about the announcement.
“I’ve had a good read,” Anderson told sporten.dk, “I didn’t know they were going to announce it now. We’ll see what happens, I have so many comments on it. It’s a decision that they’ve taken, and we’ll see where it ends up.”
Anderson is especially surprised, because he is in regular contact with the Schlecks, and neither had mentioned it to him. “I live in Luxembourg and I speak with them almost every day,” he said. “I was also out for a ride with them yesterday, and so of course I spoke with them yesterday.”
As for the exact time that Anderson will be officially announcing the team, its new sponsors and the riders he has signed, the Dane says that it will not be for some time. “Absolutely not before some time in September,” he said. “It’s such that we can’t release some names, so there is no reason to make changes. There are rules that say when we can release names.”
VeloNation contacted the Saxo Bank team, but it declined to comment at the present moment; we expect an official announcement in the next few days.
The Schlecks confirmed departure leaves room at Riis’ team, which will be at least part sponsored by software company SunGard next year, for a Grand Tour rider. With Tour de France winner Alberto Contador announcing that he will be leaving the Astana team at the end of the year – as well as the fact that the Spaniard has a personal affiliation with Specialized, the bikes that Saxo Bank currently ride – makes his move there look very possible.