26-year-old Dane gets second chance at ProTeam level
The Saxo Ban-SunGard team has announced the signing of Danish rider Mads Christensen on a one-year contract. The 26-year-old Dane currently rides for Danish Continental team Glud & Marstrand-LRØ Radgivning and has spent the last few years at the same level. He does have experience at ProTeam level though, having spent 2005 at Quick Step.
In 2004 Christensen took second in the under-23 Liège-Bastogne-Liège and then the bronze medal in the under-23 road race at the World Championships in Verona, Italy, which earned him the contract with Quick Step. While at the Belgian team he finished the Giro d’Italia as a 22-year-old, but only stayed one year; he rode for ProContinental level Barloworld in 2006.
”I’m aware that signing with Saxo Bank-SunGard is a huge opportunity for me,” said Christensen. “Since my time with Quick Step I’ve been working hard, determined to achieve this great chance with the team where I can get the right guidance to take my level to the highest point.
“To become a member of Saxo Bank-SunGard is a personal victory for me,” he added.
His best result this season came in mid-May, when he won stage 2 and took second overall in the 2.2-ranked Flèche du Sud. He also took sixth place in the Danish Championships road race, 1’51” behind future teammate Nicki Sorensen but ahead of a number of other Saxo Bank riders. Last season, while riding for Team Designa Køkken, he finished second in the FDB Insurance Rás in Ireland.
Saxo Bank team owner Bjarne is happy to sign with another Danish talent. ”I’m looking so much forward to working with Mads,” he said. “There’s no doubt that he’s having a special talent just waiting to be developed. He had a glorious career as a U23 cyclist and naturally I’ll seize this great opportunity to bring his abilities up to the highest level,”