Tinkoff-Saxo · History

Tinkoff was a professional road cycling team founded in 1998 on the licence of the Danish amateur club Herning CK, and it raced in the sport's top tier, the UCI ProTour (later the UCI WorldTour), from 2005 until it folded at the end of 2016. It held a Danish licence until 2013 and a Russian one from 2014 to 2016. Bjarne Riis ran it between 2000 and 2013, and the Russian banker Oleg Tinkov owned it for its last three seasons. Its riders included Laurent Jalabert, Tyler Hamilton, Ivan Basso, Carlos Sastre, Fabian Cancellara, brothers Andy and Fränk Schleck, Alberto Contador and Peter Sagan.

Foundation and early years

The parent company, Professional Cycling Denmark, was set up in the autumn of 1996. Among its founders was Bjarne Riis, then still riding for Telekom, who won the Tour de France that same year. The team took to the road in 1998 as Home-Jack & Jones, with the stated aim of riding the 2000 Tour de France. Riis sold his stake in 1999 after doping allegations in the Danish press, and in 2000 the team raced as Memory Card-Jack & Jones. Late that year Riis regained control through his company, Riis Cycling, and took charge of the sporting side. The period also brought two high-haematocrit cases: Marc Streel, sacked in 1999 after a 52 % reading, and Nicolai Bo Larsen, who returned 51 % in 2000 but was kept on after later normal values.

The CSC years

In 2001 the American firm Computer Sciences Corporation came on board, and from 1 July that year the team was called CSC-Tiscali; between 2003 and 2008 it raced as CSC. These were its strongest years as a unit. Tyler Hamilton won Liège-Bastogne-Liège in 2003, and the team topped the UCI ProTour team standings in 2005, 2006 and 2007. Ivan Basso won the 2006 Giro d'Italia, but that summer he was barred from the Tour over Operación Puerto and dismissed; in May 2007 he admitted his involvement. Fabian Cancellara won Paris-Roubaix in 2006, the world time trial title in 2006 and 2007 and Milan-San Remo in 2008, while Stuart O'Grady took Paris-Roubaix in 2007.

Saxo Bank and Sastre's Tour

In 2008 the Danish lender Saxo Bank joined as co-sponsor and the team started the Tour de France as CSC-Saxo Bank. Carlos Sastre won the 2008 Tour de France overall, with the team winning the team classification and Andy Schleck the best young rider prize. From 2009 the name was Saxo Bank and the bikes were supplied by Specialized. Andy Schleck won Liège-Bastogne-Liège in 2009, Cancellara added another world time trial title that year and in 2010 won both the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix. In 2011, as Saxo Bank-SunGard, Nick Nuyens won the Tour of Flanders. The 2010 Tour, won on the road by Alberto Contador with another team, was awarded to Andy Schleck after the Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld the Spaniard's ban on 6 February 2012.

Contador and the arrival of Tinkov

Contador joined the Riis team for the 2011 season. In late June 2012 Oleg Tinkov came in as second sponsor with his Tinkoff Bank, and the team raced as Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank. That year Contador, back from suspension, won the 2012 Vuelta a España. In 2013, as Saxo-Tinkoff, Roman Kreuziger won the Amstel Gold Race on 14 April. In December 2013 Tinkov bought the licence from Riis, who had run the team for thirteen seasons, and the outfit was registered in Russia from 2014.

Tinkoff-Saxo and Riis's exit

Under the Tinkoff-Saxo name, Contador won the 2014 Vuelta a España and the 2015 Giro d'Italia. In March 2015 Riis was removed from his duties after disagreements with Tinkov, and his contract was terminated later that month; Stefano Feltrin became general manager and Steven de Jongh head sports director. Peter Sagan, signed for 2015, won the world road race title in Richmond that September. In October 2015 Saxo Bank announced it would not renew its sponsorship, ending an eight-year association with the team.

The final season

In December 2015 Tinkov said he would sell the team at the end of 2016, citing financial reasons and his disputes with ASO and the UCI. In 2016 it raced simply as Tinkoff. Sagan, in the rainbow jersey, won the Tour of Flanders on 3 April 2016 and retained the world road race title in Doha in October. No buyer was found and the team closed at the end of 2016.