Will go elsewhere if satisfactory offer not given
Following his fine third place overall in the Tour de Suisse, Jakob Fuglsang has said that Saxo Bank manager Bjarne Riis needs to make a decision very quickly about whether or not the talented Danish rider will be part of the team next year.
Fuglsang won the Tour of Denmark in 2008 and 2009 and last year also took the Tour of Slovenia. He is a strong climber who can also time trial, and is potentially a future Grand Tour winner. This has led to offers from other teams and he wants to finalise the situation before the start of the Tour de France.
“I’ll look elsewhere, but I must have a talk with Bjarne this week,” he told DR Sporten. “There are several that show interest, and have been eager to get hold of me. Now I must look at the conditions and make a decision based on that.”
The Saxo Bank team announced last October that the rider had signed a new three year deal, but in March he confirmed that the document had never been signed. The team’s long, frustrating hunt for a new sponsor appears to have been the stumbling block, with Fuglsang wanting to ensure that he is not left without a team.
His Tour de Suisse display has further raised his worth, and he knows that a new contract must be found and signed soon, making the most of a transfer market that reaches fever pitch during the Tour de France.
In an interview with VeloNation before the Tour de Suisse, Fuglsang spoke about the pluses of the team. “First of all, I am really happy being on this team. There is a really great atmosphere and we have a really good friendship together.
“I want to be on a team where I think I will be happy, where I will have some good friends. I think that is important for when you travel that much and you are on the road the whole time. The team-mates are those that you have to spend most of your time with. So for me it is important that I am around some guys that I get along with.
“Second of all, for me it is not that important that I can be the captain for the Tour next year. I could wait one or two years, but of course one day I would like to give it a try myself and see if the Tour is going to be my goal in the future.”
Reading between the lines, he appears to be open to staying with Riis as long as he has financial security and also a competitive offer when compared to what is being promised by other teams.
However he stressed then that he wanted it to be resolved sooner rather than later.
“I am hoping to get everything done before the Tour. I am still talking to different teams and I am also waiting a little bit for Bjarne to see if he can find a sponsor. So nothing is really set yet, but I would really like to have it done before the Tour so I don’t have to worry about it any more.”
Riis is rumoured to be in advanced negations with a sponsor in relation to taking over from Saxo Bank, who wish to end their backing this year. SunGard is tipped to take over, ramping up its investment from the secondary sponsor level it currently occupies.
If this is the case, it should give Riis the cash he needs to keep Fuglsang on board.
In the meantime, the rider is awaiting a decision about whether he will be on the Tour team. “I still believe I have my best shape ahead, and it will hopefully arrive in two weeks when we begin the tour,” he told DR Sporten.
“I have not been told but am banking on it.”
He said that he would next compete in the Danish time trial championships, which he wants to win.