Team CSC Saxo Bank

Cycling team infobox
teamname=Team CSC Saxo Bank


code=CSC
base= DEN
founded=2001
disbanded=
manager=Bjarne Riis
techdirector=
ds1=
ds2=
ds3=
ds4=
ds5=
discipline=Road
status=ProTour
season=1998-1999 2000 2001-2002
2003-2008
2008
2009-
oldname=Team home - Jack & Jones Team Memory Card - Jack & Jones CSC-Tiscali Team CSC
Team CSC-Saxo Bank
Team Saxo Bank-IT FACTORY
kit

Team CSC Saxo Bank ("UCI Team Code:" CSC) is a professional cycling team from Denmark which competes in the road bicycle racing series the UCI ProTour. The team is owned and managed by former Tour de France winner Bjarne Riis, under the management of his company "Riis Cycling A/S". The main sponsor since the 2001 season and sole name sponsor since 2003, Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC), is an IT company located in Virginia, United States. 2008 will be the last year with CSC sponsorship [ [http://www.team-csc.com/ny_news.asp?n_id=1754 Riis Cycling to have new title sponsor in 2009] at "Team-CSC"] .

Founded for the 1998 season under the name of Team h ome - Jack & Jones, the team started in cycling's second best division, but since 2000 it has taken part in cycling's top division (currently known as the UCI ProTour, previously as the 1st Division). Since 2000, under differing sponsor names (Team Memory Card - Jack & Jones and CSC-Tiscali), the team has participated in the Tour de France, the most prestigious of the three Grand Tours of cycling. The team has won stages in all three Grand Tours, and team captain Ivan Basso finished second overall in the 2005 Tour de France. Team CSC can call themselves the best cycling team in the world, since they completed the 2006 UCI ProTour by successfully defending the team title which they had won in 2005. The team made it three-in-a-row by winning the 2007 UCI ProTour. In the 2008 Tour de France, team leader Carlos Sastre won the yellow jersey, Andy Schleck won the white jersey for best young rider, and the team won the overall team competition.

Philosophy

When Bjarne Riis took over the team in the winter of 2000, he hired the former Danish Ranger Corps soldier B.S. Christiansen as a team advisor, and together they would give Team CSC a distinct philosophy from many other professional cycling teams, both in training methods and the climate in the team. [Andrew Rogers, [http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/?pg=fullstory&id=3807 PEZ Interviews: Bjarne Riis] , "PezCycling", February 22, 2006] The team works with four values; communication, loyalty, commitment and respect, with the aim of improving their teamwork. [ [http://www.team-csc.com/pages.asp?pa_id=15&m_id=18&sub_m_id=21 Our Values] at "Team-CSC"] Furthermore, apart from a few select riders for the biggest races of the season, the team rides for the rider who is in the best shape on the day, and also chose to separate the function of team captain (the rider making decisions) and team leader (the rider trying to win) to avoid concentrating the pressure on a single rider. [Werge, p. 177]

To heighten these values, the Team CSC staff go on yearly outdoor education trips, or so-called "boot camps", undertaking an array of physical challenges under time pressure. According to B.S. Christiansen, the camps have the goal of "teaching people, that they can achieve their goals by cooperating. They have to perform their very best under the worst possible circumstances, where every action has a consequence" [ [http://www.cyclingnews.com/features.php?id=features/2004/csc_boot_camp Bjarne's boot camp] , "CyclingNews", December 12, 2004] , and Bobby Julich, one of the riders, explained that "those days in the bush bonded us much closer and given [sic] us the strategies to work as a team in any racing situation". [Andrew Rogers, [http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/?pg=fullstory&id=3844 Bobby Julich: Another PEZ-Zing] , "PezCycling", March 9, 2006]

History

The company behind the team, initially named "Professional Cycling Denmark ApS", was created in autumn 1996 by former amateur cycling world champion Alex Pedersen, Finn Poulsen (representing Bestseller a/s), Torben Kølbæk and Johannes Poulsen (from Herning CK), and Bjarne Riis (then a Team Telekom rider). [Werge, pp. 15-17] The team was built on the team license of Danish amateur cycling team Herning CK, with headquarters in Herning, Denmark, with the declared goal of being picked for the 2000 Tour de France.

1998-1999 Team home - Jack & Jones

The team was assembled for the 1998 season, and the first years as a team commenced with Alex Pedersen and Torben Kølbæk as sports directors. The team started out with eleven riders, comprising a mix of first-time professionals along with seasoned Danish veterans Brian Holm and Jesper Skibby who had both competed in the Tour de France multiple times, Skibby having won stage 5 in the 1993 edition. The main sponsors were a Danish real estate agency (home a/s), and a clothes manufacturer (Jack & Jones, a brand owned by Bestseller a/s) and the budget was around €1,000,000 for the 1998 season, including various secondary sponsors. ["ibid", pp. 25 (figure translated from Danish kroner)] The team rode its first season in the 2nd Division participating in small races, and during the first month both Christian Andersen and Jesper Skibby had secured minor wins for the fledgling team, with Brian Holm surprisingly deciding to quit the team in April 1998.

The doping scandal in the 1998 Tour de France didn't affect the small team directly, but Bjarne Riis, who was a part of the peloton in the Tour de France, was subsequently branded a doping cheat in the Danish media in early 1999, and Riis decided to sell his stock in "Professional Cycling Denmark ApS".

Despite the surrounding fuss, the team finished as the overall 32nd best team of the 1998 season, and with an increased budget of around €2,400,000 combined [http://www.cyclingnews.com/results/1999/sep99/sep23news.shtml Half a million dollars needed in Denmark] , "CyclingNews", September 23, 1999] , the number of riders was increased to 14, with riders of a higher standard being brought in. In terms of number of races won, the year 1999 was the most successful season for the team until 2005: with 26 UCI victories the team was promoted to the 1st Division. In September 1999 the team came in the headlines as Belgian rider Marc Streel was tested with a hematocrit level of 53.4%, a value above 50% being an indicator of EPO doping, and he was fired from the team. [Werge, p. 87] Home stopped sponsoring the team, effectively from the end of the season, citing concern about doping in the sport.

2000 Team Memory Card - Jack & Jones

For the 2000 season, Memory Card A/S (a Danish producer of memory cards), stepped in as co-sponsor and Danish cyclist Bo Hamburger was brought in as team captain. The 2000 season did not have as many wins as in 1999 but the calibre of victories was higher and the team fulfilled their goal of Tour de France participation when they took part in the 2000 Tour de France.

In April 2000 Nicolai Bo Larsen was tested with a 51% hematocrit level, but unlike Streel he wasn't fired, as Bo Larsen had been tested with a 47% level the day before. The morning after his incriminating result of 51%, he again tested with 47%. ["ibid", pp. 91-93] However, the apparent double standards of the team in dealing with doping was detrimental to its image in the Danish public and "Jack & Jones" did not want to prolong their sponsoring deal, despite Bo Larsen later being acquitted of doping charges by a medical report. [Danish Cycling Federation, [http://www.cyclingworld.dk/index.php?p=portratter/profil.php&id=8 Nicolaj Bo Larsen] , "CyclingWorld", December 22, 2003]

In the fall of 2000, Bjarne Riis took over "Professional Cycling Denmark ApS" and the team. After the 2000 season the contract with Jack & Jones expired, and Bjarne Riis did not want to continue working with Memory Card due to their dire financial difficulties.

2001-2002 CSC-Tiscali

CSC (Computer Sciences Corporation) and the European Internet provider World Online took over as sponsors in a combined sponsorship of around €4,500,000 between the two companies. [Werge, p. 148 (figure translated from Danish kroner)] World Online was bought by the Italian telecom giant Tiscali, and so the team changed name on July 1, 2001 to CSC-Tiscali.

In April 2001, Bo Hamburger was tested positive with a newly developed EPO test methodda icon [http://www.dr.dk/Sporten/Cykling/2005/09/11/132648.htm Avis: Hamburger testet positiv i 1999] , "Danmarks Radio", September 11, 2005] , which distinguished the natural EPO in the body from synthetic EPO used in doping by determining the percentage of basic EPO. The first test of Bo Hamburger showed 82.3% which was above the maximum limit of 80% imposed by the UCI, but as his secondary tests showed both 82.4% and 78.6% he was found "not guilty" in a case that ultimately resulted in his acquittal by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in 2002. Bo Hamburger was released from his contract with CSC-Tiscali in September 2001.

The team first gained international prominence after signing French cycling star Laurent Jalabert before the 2001 season, following his many years with the Spanish ONCE team of Manolo Saiz. Knowing that he intended to retire at the end of the 2002 season, Jalabert said that, "I wanted to retire with a French team, but nobody gave me a good offer, so I went with CSC instead". At the time, CSC was sponsored by the French bike manufacturer LOOK, which is closely associated with Jalabert. The team also signed American rider Tyler Hamilton, formerly of the U.S. Postal Service cycling team. The 2001 season was a breakthrough season with Jalabert's win of the King of the Mountains competition and a stage on Bastille Day at the Tour de France, winning him popularity with the French cycling fans. The season ended with Jalabert winning the 2001 Clásica de San Sebastián, showing that he was still the man for the classics.

2002 was another breakthrough season, with Tyler Hamilton finishing second in the Giro d'Italia despite a broken scapula. The team also nearly won the team time trial event at the 2002 Tour de France, thwarted by an unfortunate flat tire. But Jalabert once again won the King of the Mountains competition, and later in the year he repeated his victory at the Clásica de San Sebastián. He retired at the end of the season, as planned.

2003-2008 Team CSC

In 2003, Riis renamed "Professional Cycling Denmark ApS" to "Riis Cycling A/S". Tiscali ceased sponsorship, and Riis Cycling A/S was unable to find a new co-sponsor, hence the team changed the name from "CSC-Tiscali" to "Team CSC" and continued the 2003 season on a reduced budget. The headquarters of Riis Cycling A/S was moved from Herning to the headquarters of one of their sponsors, the Danish insurance company Alm. Brand in Lyngby, a Copenhagen suburb.

In the 2003 season Tyler Hamilton stepped up to be the team leader with the ultimate goal of challenging for the General Classification (GC) of the 2003 Tour de France. He won the classics Liège-Bastogne-Liège and was in great form, when he was seriously injured again, breaking his collarbone in a massive pile-up on stage 1 of the Tour de France. This saw him lose a lot of time on the GC. He made it up by winning a stage of the Tour and finishing in fourth place, while his teammates Carlos Sastre and Jakob Piil also won stages in the same edition of the race.

Hamilton decided to switch to the Swiss team Phonak in 2004, citing a lack of support from Riis. Later, he was found guilty of doping, and sacked from Phonak. The team hired Italian talent Ivan Basso from the Fassa Bortolo team with the intention of grooming him to be the GC contender for the Grand Tours. Basso had won the "maillot blanc" youth classification for riders under 25 years of age in the 2002 Tour de France, and with his podium placing in the 2004 Tour de France he showed that he is a contender for the future.

Following an off-season with financial problems and wage cuts for a number of riders [Werge, p. 173] , the 2005 spring season was the strongest ever for Team CSC, with a number of high profile wins by Bobby Julich and Jens Voigt. With his victory in Paris-Nice, Bobby Julich became the first ever rider to wear the leader's jersey in the newly instated UCI ProTour race series. This was followed by three stage wins in Giro d'Italia, one by David Zabriskie and two by Ivan Basso, though Basso's hope for an overall victory was foiled by a stomach bug. Midway through the 2005 Tour de France, CSC extended their sponsorship until 2008 [ [http://www.csc.com/newsandevents/news/4228.shtml CSC RENEWS SPONSORSHIP OF TOP CYCLING TEAM] , "Computer Sciences Corporation", July 18, 2005] at a higher financial level, enabling Riis to renew the contract with Basso for an additional three years. Basso managed to get second place in the tour, after the retiring Lance Armstrong, and the team also got a stage win, with David Zabriskie's win in the prologue. The fall season yielded more success in the ProTour, as Bobby Julich achieved overall victory in the Eneco Tour of Benelux in addition to Carlos Sastre's coming in second overall, and Nicki Sørensen's stage win in, the Vuelta a España. Team CSC ended as the winner of the 2005 ProTour team competition, with Bobby Julich as the #8 ranked individual rider of the year, the highest placed rider in the CSC team.

Currently the team uses Cervélo-brand bikes and Shimano components. The arrangement with the small Canadian manufacturer works out well for CSC, as Cervélo's strength is in time-trial bikes, while CSC has a good number of riders who excel in that discipline.

Because of the teams link to drug use (Riis is an admitted doper and Basso is suspended) MAN Trucks dropped their co-sponsorship of the team midway through 2007. [http://sports.yahoo.com/sc/news?slug=ap-sponsorwithdraws&prov=ap&type=lgns]

2006 season

In 2006, with sponsorship secured for several years, the pre-season focus was to contend for the win of all three Grand Tours, with team captains Ivan Basso riding for both Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France, and Carlos Sastre for Vuelta a España. [ [http://www.uciprotour.com/Modules/SUCI/TEAMS/TeamDetails.asp?id=Mw&RefDate=31.05.2006&MenuId=MTY5Ng&BackLink=%2Ftemplates%2FUCI%2FUCI2%2Flayout%2Easp%3FMenuId%3DMTY5Ng Team Team CSC (CSC) - DEN] , "UCI", 2006] Both riders looked to improve upon their runner-up places in 2005 in the Tour and Vuelta, respectively. The team has several time trialists, including Americans Dave Zabriskie, who has won time trials at the Giro and the Tour, Olympic bronze medallist Bobby Julich, as well as Swiss rider Fabian Cancellara, who is a man for the spring classics. Other high-profile riders include German rider Jens Voigt, whose constant attacking style has earned him many wins, and Stuart O'Grady from Australia, the only top sprinting name in the team.

The first victory of the 2006 UCI ProTour season came in the prologue of Paris-Nice by defending champion Bobby Julich, before he sustained an injury later in the race, at a time where he was no longer a contender for the overall victory. The spring season was plagued with further injuries, hitting a third of the team, most notably Stuart O'Grady. [Alhan Keser, [http://eurosport.com/cycling/tirreno-adriatico/2006/sport_sto847764.shtml O'Grady goes broke] , "Eurosport", March 10, 2006] Nonetheless, the new team member Fabian Cancellara secured the second ProTour win in the year for the team in the individual time trial of Tirreno-Adriatico, and later followed up by winning the spring classic Paris-Roubaix. CSC and Cancellara's choice of the ultra light weight Cervélo R3 frame for the grueling Paris-Roubaix race surprised many commentators. Luxembourg cyclist Fränk Schleck followed up on Cancellara's lead and won the Amstel Gold Race a week later.

Before the first big goal of the season, Team CSC surprised everyone by announcing [ [http://www.team-csc.com/ny_news.asp?n_id=890 Sastre in Giro line-up] , "Team CSC", 2006] that Carlos Sastre would ride the Giro d'Italia as a helper for Ivan Basso, indicating that he would ride all three Grand Tours. 2005's winner Paolo Savoldelli was the strongest rider in the first stages, and Jan Ullrich took a surprise win in the ITT ahead of Ivan Basso, but from the point where the peloton hit the mountains, Ivan Basso dominated the race with three stage wins on mountain finishes, and a win in the team time trial to Team CSC who never lost control of the race. Ivan Basso ended up winning with a margin 9'18" to the surprise runner-up José Enrique Gutiérrez.

On 30 June 2006, the management of Tour de France announced at a press conference, that Ivan Basso would not be riding in the 2006 Tour de France as a result of his apparent involvement in the Operación Puerto doping scandal. Carlos Sastre took over as captain after the initial confusion, and was the strongest rider in the favorite group on the last mountain stages, but a poor performance in the last time trial placed him in fourth place overall. The team also scored two stage wins, the most impressive being Fränk Schleck's win on Alpe d'Huez after a strong team effort. Jens Voigt had already won a flat stage after a long break away, and contributed strongly to both Schleck's win, and Sastre's placement in the stage.

The autumn season was dominated by the unresolved issue of Ivan Basso's involvement in Operación Puerto. The contract between Ivan Basso and Team CSC was cancelled by mutual consent, and the case against Ivan Basso was eventually dropped by the Federazione Ciclistica Italiana on lack of evidencecite web
author = Brown, Gregor
coauthors = Maloney, Tim
title = Basso officially cleared in "Operación Puerto"
publisher = "CyclingNews"
date = 2006-10-27
url = http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2006/oct06/oct27news4
accessdate = 2006-11-25] , but without him authorizing a DNA test that could have cleared him conclusively. Basso adamantly denied being involved. (On May 7th 2007 Basso admitted his involvement in Puertocite web
title = Basso admits role in doping scandal
first= Ariel
last= David
publisher = AP News
date = 2007-05-08
url = http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070507/ap_on_sp_ot/cyc_basso_doping
accessdate = 2007-05-08] ). Team CSC have since started an ambitious anti-doping programcite web
title = Team CSC Launches Anti Doping Program
publisher = Team CSC
date = 2006-11-13
url = http://www.team-csc.com/ny_news.asp?n_id=1125
accessdate = 2006-11-25] together with the notable Danish anti-doping expert Rasmus Damsgaard. Meanwhile, on the road, Jens Voigt totally dominated Deutschland Tour, winning overall and three stages, including both a mountain finish and an individual time trial. Carlos Sastre managed to become #4 overall in Vuelta a España after starting out in the lead when Team CSC won the initial team time trial. This was Sastre's fifth Grand Tour in a row.

2007 season

With the exit of Ivan Basso, it was up to Carlos Sastre along with the Classics riders to create the results in 2007. New rider Juan José Haedo gave the team a good start by winning several early minor races. The classics season was made a success simply by having Stuart O'Grady win Paris - Roubaix, thus defending Fabian Cancellaras win from 2006. Later Jens Voigt also managed to defend his victory in Tour of Germany. Thanks to a strong team showing throughout the year, Team CSC won the UCU ProTour team competition for the third year in a row.

For the Grand Tours, Carlos Sastre was provided a team solely dedicated to him for the Vuelta, while the team for the Tour was composed of both support riders, and riders that could make individual results. This left the Giro without any clear rider for the general classification. Instead a mostly youth oriented team was chosen, with the hope that Andy Schleck who had had some promising results last fall, might be able to compete in the youth competition. He managed to surpass both the expectations and hope by not only winning the youth competition, but also get number 2 in the general classification.

For the Tour, Fabian Cancellara followed up a strong showing in his home countries Tour de Suisse by two stage wins and seven days in the yellow jersey. Sadly, when the race hit the mountains, the doping scandals returned. The two major being pre-race favorite Alexander Vinokourov being tested positive for doping, and race leader Michael Rasmussen being withdrawn by the team for "internal code violations". Nonetheless, the race went on, with Carlos Sastre being among the strongest in the mountains (but clearly behind both Michael Rasmussen and eventual winner Alberto Contador), but lost enough in the time trials to end as #4, significantly outside the range of the podium, his goal for the race.

For the Vuelta, Sastre again lost significant time in the time trials, especially the first, but thanks to a strong and bold ride of him and his team, he managed to climb to the second place in the general classification. The winner and race leader for most of the race, Denis Menchov, was never seriously threatened though.

2008 Team CSC Saxo Bank

CSC announced [ [http://www.team-csc.com/ny_news.asp?n_id=1754 Riis Cycling to have new title sponsor in 2009] ] that they would not renew the contract in spring 2008, meaning Riis Cycling A/S would need a new main sponsor from 2009. Mid-june, Riis Cycling A/S announced [ [http://www.team-csc.com/ny_news.asp?n_id=1918&lang=uk Riis Cycling signs Sponsorship Agreement with Saxo Bank] ] that Saxo Bank had entered a three year contract as name sponsor, starting immediately. The team would then ride 2008 Tour de France as Team CSC Saxo Bank.

2009 Team Saxo Bank-IT FACTORY

From 2009, IT Factory will be co-sponsor [ [http://www.teamcsc-saxobank.com/ny_news.asp?n_id=2142&lang=uk Two Danish Companies are Now Main Sponsors for Bjarne Riis] ] .

Staff

2008 team roster

The following table contains all people who have contract with Team CSC for the 2008 season, as well as their birth year, nationality, where they rode before ("neo-pro" means this was their first year as a professional), which year they entered the team (some may have been riding for the team before, then the year is when they returned to the team for this spell), and finally how long their contract last.

Prominent past staff

Notable wins

Since the founding of Team CSC in 1998, its various riders have won more than 200 victories for the team. Here are listed the most meriting wins, consisting of Grand Tour stages, Classics wins, and overall wins in the UCI ProTour racing series.

ee also

*List of teams and cyclists in the 2008 Tour de France
*2008 Tour de France
*Tour de France

References

*da icon Lars Werge, "Drømmeholdet - historien om CSC", Ekstra Bladets forlag, 2005, ISBN 87-7731-206-6
*Tómas Gislason, "Overcoming", DVD, 2005, a look behind the scenes of the 2004 Tour de France.:imdb title|id=0465556 |title=Overcoming

Footnotes

External links

* [http://www.team-csc.com/ny_index.asp Team-CSC] , official website
* [http://www.cykelsupport.dk CykelSupportDanmark] , official Danish fan club
* [http://www.team-csc.com/ny_news.asp?n_id=1626&lang=uk Trey Greenwood joins CSC as new managing director]