Oleg Tinkov, the owner of Tinkoff Bank, has reacted positively to the news that Saxo-Tinkoff star rider Alberto Contador may leave the team. In a tweet, the Russian states that he may reconsider his decision to stop his sponsorship if the news are confirmed.

Oleg Tinkov has once again drawn headlines by issuing a controversial tweet. The Russian whose Tinkoff Bank will end its sponsorship of the Saxo-Tinkoff team at the end of the season, has reacted to the news that the team's star rider Alberto Contador may leave the team to join Fernando Alonso's team next season.

Tinkov has been highly critical of Contador's performances during the Tour de France where the Spaniard failed to live up to expectations and finished a disappointing 4th. It has since been revealed that the sponsorship will not be continued, team owner Bjarne Riis choosing to stop the cooperation.

In his usual polemic fashion, Tinkov reacted to the news by tweeiting: "Contador to join Alonso team in 2014?  If Bjarne get rid of Conta I may re-think my departure from #TeamSaxoTinkoff."

The statement follows on the heels on another controversial tweet issued when Nicolas Roche took the leader's jersey on Alto de Peñas Blancas on Saturday. On that occasion he reacted by writing " Good news from Vuelta. Finally team start pay back sponsors. If they were this way from the very beginning, #tcsbank might not have left."

Tinkov previously had his own cycling team Tinkoff Credit Systems which won stages in the Giro before being part of the new Katusha project which was initiated prior to the 2009 season. He is currently set to leave the sport when his sponsorship ends.