Oleg Tinkov has denied that he has prevented Samuel Sanchez from signing a contract with Team Tinkoff-Saxo. The Russian claims that team manager Bjarne Riis is responsible for the roster and new signings and that he only secures the financial backing.

When Oleg Tinkov announced that he had bought Team Tinkoff-Saxo from Bjarne Riis and appointed the Dane as the new manager, he was keen to stress that he would not be involved in any new rider signings. Instead, he would leave it to his manager to build a roster that would be strong enough to reach the goal of becoming the best team in the world.

Earlier this week, it was, however, reported that the Russian had prevented Samuel Sanchez from signing a contract with the team. Apparently, the Spanish Euskaltel star had a verbal agreement with Riis to join the squad as soon as he had found a solution to his contractual obligations with the defunct Euskaltel team.

When Sanchez reached such an agreement with his previous employer, El Pais reported that Tinkov had interfered. According to the Spanish newspaper, the team owner would prefer to focus on younger riders and have more Russians on the roster.

However, Tinkov has now reacted to the reports by writing a tweet that emphasises that his promise from the press conference remains valid.

"I had nothing to do with Sanchez and never ever seen him. All of the negotiations with potential riders are in Bjarne hands. I only pay," he wrote.

The team's new CEO Stefano Feltrin has repeated that claim in an interview with Velonation.

“We said very clearly that the team is run by Bjarne in relation to everything to do with the sports side," he said. "Oleg said in the press conference that he is not interfering. I understand that Samuel Sanchez may have said differently, but it not accurate. Oleg Tinkov never put a veto on anyone.”

However, Feltrin admits that there has been a contact between the parties.

“It is unfortunate for him [Sanchez] that he doesn’t have a contract," he said. "I can only comment on things from after we were involved. From the time of our involvement in the negotiation to purchase the team, we were told they were discussing if there was a possibility to do something with him. 

“As far as I know we never made an offer to him, no formal undertaking or commitment. It is true that the team and he had some conversations, but it is a long shot from that to say the team rescinded a contract.”

For a long time, it appeared as though the team still had several open spots but during December, they have announced several contract renewals with some of their trusted domestiques. Feltrin reveals that the roster has been complete for a long time and that there have been few possibilities for Tinkov to influence things.

“The team has received countless proposals and requests. Riders, soigneurs, media and many others put in requests to become part of the team. 

“When we became active, the team roster was already complete. Although we announced the riders at a later point, we knew we had all the riders in place. There was no intention to have anyone else on board, unless there was some unforeseeable event such as this with [Michael] Rogers," he said, referring to the doping case of the Australian veteran.

If Rogers is found guilty in a an anti-doping rule violation, it may open a new spot on the roster.

“That situation might change things, but if he is cleared to race – as we all hope – we don’t see that we will add anyone else in 2014,” he said.

Sanchez still hasn't found a new team and may be forced to end his career if an opportunity don't show up in the near future.