Even though Oleg Tinkov still doesn’t give up on the idea of having all four biggest stage racers clashing each other in three Grand Tour events, he admitted that it is very unlikely to happen next season. Nonetheless, the Tinkoff-Saxo owner insists that he is still eager to put 1 million euro on a table as an additional incentive for the riders, and hinted that he would be satisfied if Contador, Quintana, Nibali and Froome tackled the Giro-Tour double in 2015.

“For me, the sooner it happens the better it is. For the next year it may be hard,” the Russian said, speaking exclusively to Sky Sports News HQ.

“I think it would be a huge victory if all four of them would start the Giro and Tour double. That’s what Alberto Contador has already confirmed, so why don’t Chris Froome, Nairo Quintana and Vincenzo Nibali join him? That would be good. Let’s start with the double this year and see how it evolves.”

Tinkoff-Saxo leader, Alberto Contador, has already confirmed his participation in the 2015 editions of the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France. Astana captain Vincenzo Nibali will focus primarily on his title defense in July, but didn’t completely rule out the possibility of sharing leadership at the Kazakh squad with fellow countryman Fabio Aru in the Italian three-week event. Nairo Quintana of Movistar was absolutely positive about the idea of riding all Grand Tour events in one season, but his team manager Eusebio Unzue less so, and thus the 24-year old Colombian will ride a more conservative Tour-Vuelta double next season, while a race programme of Chris Froome won’t be decided before the official route presentation of la Grande Boucle. Team Sky principal Dave Brailsford claimed that having all best stage racers following the same schedule would positively influence cycling, but it is very unlikely that the British squad will conduct such experiments in 2015 as they badly need to make up for a disastrous 2014 season.

Understanding that proposed three Grand Tour challenge, which Nibali called “inhuman”, will be indeed an extremely difficult task, Tinkov typically emphasized that top professional cyclists are well paid for their job.

Next year, the Giro will take place from May 9-31, with the Tour following from July 4-26 and the final Grand Tour, the Vuelta a Espana, being held from August 22 to September 13.

Tinkov’s thinking behind the triple challenge idea is to make cycling more appealing by having all of the best riders in the world take part in all of the biggest races.

“It’s hard but they are getting a lot of money, those guys. They get a big pay cheque, almost like good football players. They have a good salary and they have to work for that salary.”