Saxo / Liquigas to merge?
Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.
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Colnago, Unibet and Nissan Trek might be merging too.Insta: ATEnduranceCoaching
ABCC Cycling Coach0 -
I understand the huge financial pressures these teams are under, but it makes me feel sad to see teams merging
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Really hope this doesn't happen, having said that if Liquigas is in trouble then would prefer to see the team continue. Saxo are over at season's end no matter what though. Contador is obviously a bonus, wonder what Basso and Co. will make of him joining the team?Take care of the luxuries and the necessites will take care of themselves.0
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The dissenter is every human being at those moments of his life when he resigns
momentarily from the herd and thinks for himself.0 -
From what I've read elsewhere, Liquigas is going to cease sponsorship entirely at the end of the year. The Liquigas name will not feature any where, merged or otherwise.
Wow TBH...0 -
Liquigas-Cannondale and Saxo Bank are reportedly considering merging to merge for the 2013 season, according to La Gazzetta dello Sport, with the aim of creating a super team led by former Discovery Channel team mates Alberto Contador and Ivan Basso that will aim to become the world’s number one team.
The Italian sports daily says that nothing had been set in stone yet, but if Liquigas’s management team have not been able to find a replacement sponsor by August for the Italian gas company, which is not renewing its backing beyond the end of the season, then a merger similar to that of RadioShack and Leopard Trek, or Garmin and Cervelo TestTeam, is on the cards.
The news comes as the Liquigas-Cannondale management team of Roberto Amadio and Paolo Zani prepare to wave goodbye not only to their headline sponsor but also a number of the outfit’s leading riders.
Vincenzo Nibali, winner of Tirreno Adriatico in March and second in Liège–Bastogne–Liège and third in Milan-San Remo, is reportedly set to join Astana on a contract worth €2.8 million a year. Alessandro Vanotti and Valerio Agnoli are likely to go with him.
Sylwester Szmyd and Daniel Oss, meanwhile, are said to be heading to BMC Racing. Eros Capecchi is apparently keen to stay, although there is question mark over whether the team can match his contractual demands.
Definitely staying, however, accordig to the newspapr are Basso, Peter Sagan - although he has been the target of interest from other teams - Elia Viviani and Damiano Caruso, among others, and there are also hopes that Roman Kreuziger, who left at the end of the 2010 season for Astana, may make the return journey.
As for Saxo Bank, the Gazzetta reports that Contador is likely to rejoin Bjarne Riis’s outfit when his ban ends on 6 August.
The Spaniard is said to feel a moral obligation towards the Dane, who stood by him throughout the year and a half between his positive test for clenbuterol on the 2010 Tour de France being disclosed, and the Court of Arbitration for Sport banning him for two years, most of that applied retroactively, earlier this year.
Contador is also reported to admire Riis’s qualities as a team manager, and has is even said to be moving to Lugano in Switzerland, where Riis has lived for a number of years.
While the newspaper points out that there would need to be some compromise between the two teams’ styles to achieve a successful merger, it adds that Basso and Contador have a strong mutual respect that took root when they rode together at Discovery prior to Basso being banned as a result of links to Operacion Puerto, and that they have on occasion informally discussed the opportunity of riding together since then.0 -
Haha this would be interesting. Alberto on liquigas colours - what amazing photos will be in store!Contador is the Greatest0
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frenchfighter wrote:Haha this would be interesting. Alberto on liquigas colours - what amazing photos will be in store!
I don't think he'll be wearing Liquigas colours from what I've read Frenchie...0 -
So Saxo as main sponsor?Contador is the Greatest0
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frenchfighter wrote:So Saxo as main sponsor?
GEOX are supposed to be one of the name in the frame to take over from Liquigas.Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.0 -
Oh no.... :shock:Contador is the Greatest0
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In other news, I notice that Sanchez is considering leaving Euskaltel which will bring forward their inevitable demise as a World Tour team.
Perhaps the UCI need to revisit the whole World Tour system (which I am more in favour of than most) and reconsider a) the number of licences and b) the points system.Twitter: @RichN950 -
RichN95 wrote:In other news, I notice that Sanchez is considering leaving Euskaltel which will bring forward their inevitable demise as a World Tour team.
Perhaps the UCI need to revisit the whole World Tour system (which I am more in favour of than most) and reconsider a) the number of licences and b) the points system.
That would be my worst nightmare if true. (Euskaltel fanboi) 0 -
Excuse my ignorrance, but if there are several mergers then there will obviously be less overall world tour teams, so does this mean that some pro continental teams will get boosted up or will there just be less teams and the pro cons and continental teams will be invited to some of the bigger races to keep the numbers up?0
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Noclue wrote:Excuse my ignorrance, but if there are several mergers then there will obviously be less overall world tour teams, so does this mean that some pro continental teams will get boosted up or will there just be less teams and the pro cons and continental teams will be invited to some of the bigger races to keep the numbers up?
The past suggests that Pro Conti teams will be promoted (and there are several who are keen). Reducing the number, though, might be more sensible.
The problem is that almost every team wants to be at the Tour de France unless you are a World Tour team or a French team then your chances are slim (but not hopeless).Twitter: @RichN950 -
That was the rumour last Tuesday. By yesterday, the rumour was Nibali plus Vanotti and Agnoli were going to BMC. Who knows!The Mad Rapper wrote:Vincenzo Nibali, winner of Tirreno Adriatico in March and second in Liège–Bastogne–Liège and third in Milan-San Remo, is reportedly set to join Astana on a contract worth €2.8 million a year. Alessandro Vanotti and Valerio Agnoli are likely to go with him.0 -
if you make 30 riders redundant how can it be a merger? Maybe saxo gets liquigas's old team buses and some tubulars?0
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knedlicky wrote:
That was the rumour last Tuesday. By yesterday, the rumour was Nibali plus Vanotti and Agnoli were going to BMC. Who knows!The Mad Rapper wrote:Vincenzo Nibali, winner of Tirreno Adriatico in March and second in Liège–Bastogne–Liège and third in Milan-San Remo, is reportedly set to join Astana on a contract worth €2.8 million a year. Alessandro Vanotti and Valerio Agnoli are likely to go with him.
Blimey really? So who's gonna make way over there then? Think its time for Basso to settle into the Domestique roll now. He'll have to if Bertie arrives. Szmyd and Cappechi would be the riders i'd hunting out if i was a manager. Super strong.0 -
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Moomaloid wrote:knedlicky wrote:
That was the rumour last Tuesday. By yesterday, the rumour was Nibali plus Vanotti and Agnoli were going to BMC. Who knows!The Mad Rapper wrote:Vincenzo Nibali, winner of Tirreno Adriatico in March and second in Liège–Bastogne–Liège and third in Milan-San Remo, is reportedly set to join Astana on a contract worth €2.8 million a year. Alessandro Vanotti and Valerio Agnoli are likely to go with him.
Blimey really? So who's gonna make way over there then? Think its time for Basso to settle into the Domestique roll now. He'll have to if Bertie arrives. Szmyd and Cappechi would be the riders i'd hunting out if i was a manager. Super strong.
Surely give Basso free reign in the Giro, with the proviso that he helps Bertie in the Tour, give Basso a chance to show this season was just a duff one and that he's not totally past it?
Isn't this situation more, Liquigas find new sponsor, Saxo don't, Liquigas (well Geox/whatever) take the bits of Saxo they want, rather than just a merge.
So, I guess the underlying question here is whether this is a slow reaction to cycling's poor public image, or just an inevitable response to the Eurozone's continual struggles.You live and learn. At any rate, you live0 -
Think the UCI need to look into the money side a bit here. I know Bruyneel has spoken about this as well. It seems the teams just can't survive on the money they get hence all the mergers0
