Riis risks losing Schleck brothers to new Luxembourg team

Bjarne Riis and Andy Schleck

Bjarne Riis' Saxo Bank team faces competition even before the Tour de France begins in Rotterdam in five days. The transfer market has unofficially opened and still without a replacement sponsor, rival teams are approaching his top riders, Fränk and Andy Schleck. One team has especially ruffled his feathers, headed by his team's and Sky's former press officer, Brian Nygaard.

Nygaard joined team Sky after working several years with fellow Dane Riis at team Saxo Bank/CSC. After the Giro d'Italia, he left his post at team Sky to form a new team based in Luxembourg for 2011. Kim Anderson abruptly left Saxo Bank after six years this week when Riis discovered that he would act as the new teams head sports director.

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Gregor Brown

Gregor Brown is an experienced cycling journalist, based in Florence, Italy. He has covered races all over the world for over a decade - following the Giro, Tour de France, and every major race since 2006. His love of cycling began with freestyle and BMX, before the 1998 Tour de France led him to a deep appreciation of the road racing season.