Wealthy men are usually known for their ability of getting exactly what they want, thus acquiring the World Tour team from troubled Bjarne Riis appeared to be a matter of time for the Russian billionaire Oleg Tinkov and it became a reality just before the 2014 has kicked-off.
Even though some misunderstandings between the new Tinkoff-Saxo team owner, including his somewhat sparkling remarks posted on twitter, and their brightest star Alberto Contador were reported last year, now the oligarch puts all the trust in the Spaniard claiming, that he is the one capable of beating Chris Froome in the coming edition of the Tour the France .
Tinkov claims that all the tensions between him and Contador have been reduced and they are on the perfect terms now, as he told in the interview for Marca during that recently concluded Dubai Tour first edition.
"The truth is that we have never been enemies. Moreover , we have always had a good relationship," Russian billionaire redefined a “good relationship” in an interview for Marca.
"I had never seen him so happy and relaxed and that's because there is no big pressure. His schedule is very busy but we allowed him to start the season slowly. I think we'll begin to see results from the Tirreno-Adriatico. I trust him a lot. Alberto is our leader and I'm sure he will do well in the Tour and also earlier in the Tirreno."
Confident as always, Tinkov claims that Contador is now the only rider capable of beating Team Sky leader Christopher Froome during the next Tour the France edition, what at least goes in line with the words recently said by Alejandro Valverde, also convinced that the Briton is not entirely invincible.
"I'm convinced that he is the only one now who can compete with Chris Froome. He’s totally beatable. And Alberto is the only one who can do this," Tinkov said the sports daily .
Still, the Tour the France is not the only objective of the 2014 season of the Danish World Tour squad, and Russian oligarch pays some respectable attention to other strong riders wearing the Tinkoff-Saxo outfit, including Roman Kreuziger, Daniele Bennati or Rafał Majka.
“We will try to mix things up in the Classics. We have Kreuziger for Liege- Bastogne- Liege and Amstel, and perhaps Bennati for Milan -San Remo. Bennati is super strong right now and it will be visible this week in Qatar. And obviously, the Vuelta a Espana dedicated to Contador, where he should ride well, should win. We will also see what Rafał Majka can do at the Giro d' Italia. I put a lot of confidence in this cyclist."
As Tinkov does not exclude some significant reinforcements to the Danish squad, he aims to maintain a good balance between acquiring new stars for the team and giving young talented riders already within their ranks opportunities to shine and develop talents in best possible way.
"Any great rider that is available on the market this year will be offered a contract. All of them. But we need to trust our young riders, we have many talents as Rafal Majka. We will acquire [new riders], but there has to be a space for our young cyclists. It’s impossible to sing everyone," Tinkov told Marca.
Challenged about the Fernando Alonso Cycling Team project, Tinkov found an eloquent answer.
"I will not compete with Alonso in racing cars but in cycling, I definitely will," he concludes.
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