Danish rider drops strong hint that he will be following the Schleck brothers to Luxembourg
Danish rider Jakob Fuglsang has dropped a strong hint that he will be one of an increasing number of Saxo Bank riders to be following Fränk and Andy Schleck to their newly created team in Luxembourg. Unwilling to actually confirm his intentions for 2011, the 25-year-old has instead stated that he will not be riding in support of the Saxo Bank’s newest recruit: Tour de France winner Alberto Contador.
“Am I happy to ride for Contador? No I’m not,” he said to Ekstra Bladet. “Now you can interpret whether it means that I don’t want to ride for him, or whether I’m switching teams.”
Some sectors of the media, where there is a perception that Contador is somehow unpopular in the peloton, will doubtless interpret Fuglsang’s comments as a slight on the Tour champion. It is more likely however that the Dane is simply dropping as strong a hint as possible that he will be leaving Bjarne Riis’ team.
“It would be a strange situation,” he added, “riding for Fränk and Andy one year and then riding for Contador the next. It would be strange to be riding against my friends.”
Fuglsang was one of Andy Schleck’s key Saxo Bank teammates in last month’s Tour de France, stepping up after elder broher Fränk was forced to abandon after his crash on the cobblestones of stage 3. He was often the last man in the chain of pacesetters for Schleck, as the Danish team drove the peloton on the stages’ final climbs.
Fuglsang is one of a number of Saxo Bank riders rumoured to be following the Schleck brothers; other riders linked include veteran domestiques Jens Voigt and Stuart O’Grady. There are a number of rumours speculating on the 2011 plans of World time trial champion Fabian Cancellara, including that of a possible move to the Swiss BMC Racing Team. Cancellara is contracted to Riis Cycling through 2011, so may find himself staying put whether he wants to or not; so far the Swiss rider has not made any official comment on the situation.