Danish media is reporting this morning that the incoming sponsor IT Factory has filed for bancruptcy. The company's chairman Asger Jensby confirms the news. The CEO is apparently wanted by Interpol for  economic fraud and has gone missing after a holiday in Dubai.

Bjarne Riis has not commented on the news so far but you can bet he isn't smiling right now. The timing isn't very fortunate considering that there is a team presentation scheduled for today.

Link to danish politiken.dk

Update (Chris): VN has more, including a picture of the guy who embezzled all the money (seen me lately?) and confirmation from Riis. "We need to go out and find a new sponsor," Riis said. "The team won't shut down."

Linus Gerdemann has finally been released from Columbia and will instead ride for Milram next year. This was confirmed today at the same time as Columbia announced that they have signed Maxime Monfort from the downscaling Cofidis. For Columbia this means they are swapping one  promising young stageracer for another and also severing yet another link to their german past.

This is the second time in his short career that Gerdemann has jumped teams before the end of his contract in order to ride on a german team. As the dominating presence of Cavendish on Columbia casts doubts on their commitment to GC-competitiveness the move seems a smart one for a rider with Tour-ambitions but it also leaves Gerdemann with a bit of a reputation as a golddigger. His penchant for Gucci-luggage also does little to negate that stereotype.

None the less, as long as Columbia where handsomely rewarded for releasing Linus, this looks like a win-win situation for everyone. With Monfort and Lövkvist on their roster Columbia certainly aren't lacking in stagerace-talent, eventhough neither of them are as charismatic (or promising) as Gerdemann

Source. Radsport-News

60 km to go. The italians still have a chance to screw this up. No doubt this course will produce a worthy champion.

I have improved on the Googletranslation of Bjarne's blog from sporten.dk today. Here is what he had to say after the biggest day ever for Team CSC/SaxoBank. :

This is so cool.Completely wild. And damnit I'm happy. We have won the Tour de France, and it will not get bigger than this! 

As Carlos Sastre had won on Alpe d'Huez, I wrote that it was the biggest thing in my career as teamowner. That I will have to revise now, for this is greater. It is in a different way, because this is also a great relief that it all went as we had hoped for.

Somehow, it is hard to fathom, but on the other hand this was also the grand plan as we started the Tour. I was actually a little disappointed to see the timetrial route when I was out on the route Friday evening.  I had hoped that it was more hilly, so it wasn't really Carlos' terrain. But  the reservations were not really called for. I tend to be rather quick to see if a rider is riding well or not. And I could see right away that Carlos was riding extremely  well.  The first intermediate time was just as I would like to see. It was within the framework. It gave Carlos a lot of confidence I felt. And when we came through the second intermediate without the timeloss growing much, I thought to myself: "Oh boy, this will hold. We're winning".And when Carlos was going even stronger than Fabian up the steepest climb and I was sure about it. 

I shouted some at Carlos underway. When there were 30 kilometres left , I tell him: "If we can hold on to this the next 15 kilometres, we're home. Just one kilometer per hour stronger. Come on.  It is just that  one km/h stronger, which will determine this. "

I tried all the time to motivate and guide him, and when the pace was a little down, I was immediately on him to push him. Yesterday morning Carlos was completely calm. One wouldn't know from looking at him that he was about to ride for the victory in the Tour de France. He knew exactly what it was about. He was quiet and calm. We both have experience, so it was not difficult for me. He knew he had to ride, until he was coughing up blood, and he was ready to do that. 

I know that Carlos has written that we respect each other very much, but that we are also different. The fact that I demanded more hardness, while he finds it difficult to be that way. It is my task to get something out of people, as they do not know exist. We have worked hard on that, because I knew he could do it. We have had long conversations in the run up to the Tour, where I said, "You can do it. I know I pressure you, but it is because I know you have it in you. " 

And I have seen the development, I want to see. He said without hesitating that it was the Tour, that was his major goal. That is what is in my view, creates a winner. The fact that he has the courage to announce his intentions.

We were together for three days in the Alps a month before the Tour. We rode some pace and trained together. But we also spent a lot of time  talking together. I was a little worried, because the motivation was not quite where it should be. He had many things in his head and had begun to doubt the team a little. At the same time he also was left to his own devices in the spring and didn't spend much time with the core of riders that would be the Tour team. 

I tried really to process it and solve it. We got to talk things through, and I got to tell him that we will go to the Tour as one team. Not as nine riders, each with its own agenda.

"If I need help, you need to be there for me, Carlos," I said to him.

"Even if it is at risk, and in a way that you probably would not have chosen." 

He accepted it fully and  he lost the 1,5-2 kg, which I asked of him. I could see in the spring that he was too heavy. And with that weight, he would never win. But I also knew that if he lost, the weight ,there would be no one who could follow him on the climbs.

We saw that on the Alpe d'Huez, because when he came to the Tour there had been a transformation. Because it was to a large degree Carlos, who planned the strategy that day. I know that there has been criticism of the tactics, but I hope that we have put that to shame. 

We knew what was required that day. We also knew that if Carlos had not completed his mission of the day, Cadel Evans would be at the top of the podium in Paris. We agreed that the willingness to take risks was necessary. 

On the morning before the Alpe d'Huez, I asked the team: "What do we do?".

I myself had a plan, but I also wanted to hear their bids. For there were many options. We could ride conservatively, attack with Andy Schleck, we could have a man in the break and let Carlos attack on the Col de la Croix de Fer, or we could ride a hard tempo to the Alpe d'Huez. I could hear that no one could figure it out. 

"Stop, friends," I said then. 

"Carlos and Frank, what can you do today?"

Frank was a little hesitant, and talked about the fact that we had to drop Evans. But it was not 100 percent certain.

"Win the stage," said Carlos. And he said it with the confidence, I was looking for. And so it was. So the plan became to ride hard and that Carlos would blow it wide open  from the bottom of Alpe d'Huez. The team rode extremely well and Carlos could complete it. That's responsibility.  And that I am proud of, because that was the way we won the Tour de France.

This is the top. And I would like to thank Saxo Bank for  the fact that we can continue at a great level. It is thanks to them that we will be here next year as well.  We have in this Tour demonstrated that we have the world's best cyclingteam, we have the world's best antidopingprogram and we can prove that we are clean. I think our fans can be proud of that. But to get a Tour-winner home with us, gives us a lot of opportunities. We still need to resign Carlos. His contract expires this winter, but he's staying here. He's not going anywhere.

Even if it becomes more expensive to keep him on , because he deserves every penny. And our ability to increase the budget will probably not get smaller after this.

Now awaits the trip in to Paris. And I am looking forward to it very, very much. It is the greatest, a rider can experience.  I remember it from my own victory in 1996. It's a fantastic feeling. I can hardly wait.

Moises Duenas of Barloworld has tested positive for EPO after the stage 4 TT. Police took him in for questioning at the team hotel in Tarbes wednesday morning. Barloworld have pulled him from the race but the rest of the team will stay in the race. Duenas, formerly of Agritubel rode well on the Hautacam stage and stayed with the lead group for a long time.He was placed 19 in the CG some 6 minutes behind Evans. Guess we know why now.

Source: Laykeep

Update from Gavia: A search of his hotel room revealed that Dueñas had "significant quantities" of medicines in his room, for which he had no perscription. Dueñas is currently being held for questioning by French authorities, and is expected to be released sometime tomorrow morning. He is now suspended from Team Barloworld, pending further investigation.

Team Columbia DS Brian Holm has a blog on sporten.dk. I've translated a part of his latest entry that is entirely devoted to the behind the scenes dealing that goes on betwen the Ds's in the races. It's nothing we didn't know but he is very frank with how things are done. This part about Rabobank cracked me up:

"For example I'll never forget the unpayed debt Rabo has with us.In the Td Suisse we asked Rabo, who never rides in the front, if they would help us chase down a break. They didn't want to since their sprinter Freire wasn't on form they said. Instead we got CA along, theyre almost always game, and worked with them for 120km, caught the break and then saw Rabobanks Oscar Freire win the sprint. And Rabo hadn't done a damn thing along the way.

When we had to chase down a break the next day, we asked Rabo again.This time they said they had won enough in the race. It's part of their tactic to ride like that but they should also know, that if one day they come to us for help because the shithouse is on fire and Menchov has been dropped and is sitting in a group with our Kim Kirchen, then I'll tell them to kiss my ass."

sporten.dk ( in danish)

The dutch court has found that Michael Rasmussen was unjustly fired by Rabobank and has ordered them to pay a fine of 665 000  Euro (equalling two months pay plus the bonuses he would have earned by a win in the TdF). They agree that there was enough evidence to support Rasmussens claim that the team were aware of  his whereabouts all along, and therefore could not claim to be have been decieved by the rider.

The amount was nowhere near the 5 million Rasmussen had demanded but it will still place Rabobank in difficulty as the sponsor have said they will withdraw their support if the court found that the Rabo management knew of Rasmussens whereabouts-cheating. That they will indeed withdraw seems unlikely but the ruling might have disastrous effects.

Source : De Telegraaf