Danish media have reported that Bjarne Riis and Saxo Bank CEO Lars Seier Christensen are looking to return to cycling at WolrdTour level in 2017. This seemingly puts to bed the duo stepping in the help the Cult Energy-Stölting team after CULT announced they were pulling out from the team that races with a Danish licence.

Christensen was not available for comment, but Saxo Bank spokeswoman Cathrine Kier told Bt.dk that “Lars has the earlier said that he will only go into cycling again, if it is on the top level.”

Bt.dk reported that the pair have met a number of times recently. On December 4, Christensen posted photos of a dinner with Riis in Mallorca, saying cryptically, “Wonderful bar in Palma de Mallorca, Abaco. And also an interesting talk about the future with s Tour de France winner. We still have a little further to go.”