Today Bjarne Riis announced that he has sold Team Saxo-Tinkoff for 6 million Euros but will continue in a role as team manager for the next three years. Many have speculated that he wants to hand over the team before an investigation into past doping in Denmark is closed by the Danish anti-doping authorities but the Dane refuses that it has played any role, instead explaining his decision by the need to secure the long-term stability of the team.

It came as little surprise that Bjarne Riis has announced that he will sell Team Saxo-Tinkoff to Bjarne Riis. For several months, it has been rumoured that the Dane was trying to hand over the ownership of the project and there was only added fuel to the speculation when Tinkov was first mentioned as a potential buyer in early November.

Many have speculated that Riis wanted to secure his life's work before the announcement of the outcome of an investigation carried out by the Danish anti-doping authorities. The investigation was started to investigate the validity of claims made by Michael Rasmussen and is rumoured to be centred almost entirely about Riis and his handling of doping on his team.

The results are expected to be announced in January. If reports are true, the evidence could be so damning that it could spell the end for Riis' time as a manager in cycling.

While he handed over the ownership of the team at today's press conference, Riis does, however, not plan to walk away from cycling. In fact, he has committed himself to become the general manager of the team which will now be known as Tinkoff-Saxo for the next three years.

He dismissed the suggestion that his decision to sell the team had anything to do with the anti-doping investigation.

"Absolutely not," he said. "These are pure speculations. We don't act on speculations."

Instead, Riis gave the long-term stability of his team as reason for his decision. For the past several years, main sponsor Saxo Bank has only signed one-year contracts, forcing Riis into a constant search for the needed funding. With Tinkov as owner and his Tinkoff Credit Systems as main sponsor, the team has a much more secure future.

"There are two reasons," he said when asked to explain his decision. "I have to be honest that during the last four or five years I have spent a lot of time searching for sponsors to secure the stability of the team. We all know that this has been difficult. It has been very stressful to only be able to work from year to year. With Oleg, it gives us the stability we need. It takes a lot of stress away from me so that I can spend my time on what I think I am best at. It secures the stability of the team."

He also gave personal reasons for his decision.

"It gives me more freedom to be a good dad to my kids and a good husband to my wife," he said. "My family is very important to me."

Riis has always made it clear that he wants his team to be the best in the world. He is keen to stress that nothing has changed in this regard and is looking forward to having more time to work on the sporting aspects that should turn his vision into reality.

"My ambitions are big," he said. "Owning the team doesn't really make that big of a difference in terms of my ambitions. I have a long history in this team. The team is still in my heart. My ambitions are not smaller. My goal is that this team is going to be the best in the world. Oleg says this too. We have those ambitions together."

During this year's Tour de France, Tinkov publicly criticized the team's star rider Alberto Contador who failed to win the race. It was no secret that Riis didn't adore Tinkov's often controversial statements but he is now looking forward to their future collaboration.

"I can say that it has been great to work that close with Oleg in this process," he said. "I have to thank him for his seriousness. It has been fantastic. I was not sure it would have been like that. We have had serious conversations with the right philosophy. This is why I am ready to do this."

Riis didn't disclose any figures but Gazzetta dello Sport has reported that Tinkov will pay 6 million Euros for the team.