Cycling is a global sport and Saxo Bank is also global. Therefore it is a very good mach. “It is perhaps a coincidence but nevertheless it is in countries with great interest in cycling that Saxo Bank has offices today,” states Lars Seier Christensen, CEO and main stockholder in Saxo Bank and refers to the bank’s expansion in among others Switzerland, France, Japan and Australia.

Two managing directors  from the bank, Lars Seier Christensen and Kim Fournais, and Riis Cycling’s owner Bjarne Riis met the press yesterday at a press conference in order to tell more about the new cooperation which by experts at sponsorships is estimated be Denmark’s largest sponsorship costing Saxo Bank about EUR 7 million a year.. Officially the amount was a secret but it is what the present sponsor for CSC pays today and as Saxo Bank  wants Team Saxo Bank to continue to be the best team in the world money will probably not be an issue. 

Moreover, Lars Seier Christensen  informed that the expenses to the sponsorship are part of the banks total marketing budget at EUR 30-40 million a year.. So there is enough money.

To this summer’s Tour de France  Team CSC will be renamed  to Team CSC Saxo Bank and from January first 2009 it will be Team Saxo Bank for a minimum of three years.

The doping scandal is not without significance to  Ssxo Bank but Lars Seier Christensen praises CSC for being trend-setting when it comes to doping control.

Lars Seier Christensen estimates that Saxo Bank and Bjarne Riis’ team have almost identical values. It is about winning an good communication .And about having a fantastic team with room for individualists.