The future of Team Saxo-Tinkoff is apparently secured. According to a report in Gazzetta dello Sport, Bjarne Riis will make an announcement on today's press conference that Saxo-Bank has extended its contract to sponsor Saxo-Tinkoff and will increase its financial commitment to cover the gap left by Tinkoff Bank.

The future of the Saxo-Tinkoff team has been up in the air ever since Tinkoff Bank announced that they stop their sponsorship of the team at the end of the season. Since then the team has been in search of a replacement sponsor with several rumours circulating that the team was in financial difficulty.

On Tuesday, the team sent out an invitation to a press conference that will be held today at 15.00 CEST when important news about the team's future is set to be announced. Bjarne Riis and Alberto Contador will both be present to reveal what will happen to the team in 2014.

According to a report in Gazzetta dello Sport, Riis will announce that Saxo Bank has decided to extend its contract and that they will increase their financial commitment to cover the gap left by Tinkoff Bank. The Danish bank has stayed loyal to the team despite the bad publicity that has surrounded Riis due to several doping investigation and may now have decided to even up their commitment to the team.

Rumours have circulated that Riis would be forced to ask his riders to accept a pay cut but such an agreement would stabilize the team's foundations and make such steps unnecessary. It would also allow Riis to hire new riders and resign contracts with his existing staff. Currently, the team has only announced 16 riders for the coming season with neo-pro Michael Valgren being the only new rider on the team.

Tinkoff owner Oleg Tinkov has announced that he has agreed to sponsor another team and everything suggests that he has signed a contract with Cannondale. The Russian had expressed his intention of signing current Saxo-Tinkoff riders Rafal Majka and Roman Kreuziger but according to Gazzetta dello Sport, that won't happen.

A classic race schedule for Contador

At the same time, Contador has spoken with L'Equipe and detailed the race programme that should allow him to get back on track following a disappointment 2013 season. Having started racing already in January's Tour de San Luis, he plans to postpone his debut race and ride a more classical Contador programme.

“Next year, I want to do a complete season, like in the past,” he told the French paper “I’m going to select my races well. Paris-Nice or Tirreno-Adriatico and then, perhaps, Catalunya, Romandie or the Basque Country.”

Contador stressed that he wants to obtain good results in the early part of the season to get confidence for his major goal which will once again be the Tour de France.

“I want to finish [my early season] at the Dauphiné in order to get to a good level," he said. "Having a good start to the season and getting good results is the best preparation for the Tour de France. The most important thing for me is to start it in top condition.”

This year Contador only finished 4th in the Tour. He has made it clear that he wants to make the Tour-Vuelta double next year.