Contador's struggling team points manager Riis towards exit

Bjarne Riis is no longer 'actively involved' with Tinkoff-Saxo after a poor start to the year

Bjarne Riis is no longer ‘actively involved’ with Tinkoff-Saxo after a poor start to the year (Getty Images)

The future of former Tour de France winner Bjarne Riis as manager of Tinkoff-Saxo, the team of Alberto Contador, was plunged into uncertainty yesterday with the announcement that he was no longer “actively involved”.

Danish newspaper BT had alleged that the 50-year-old Dane was suspended over recent poor results but the Russian-registered team responded: “He was not suspended [from] his active role because of lack of results nor for financial issues. The team management has full confidence in the technical and performance team, in all the riders and staff members and is currently working to establish the best way forward in the racing season.”

Riis, who won the Tour de France in 1996, sold the team to Russian multimillionaire Oleg Tinkov in December 2013 but stayed on as manager on a lucrative contract. Tinkoff-Saxo have had a poor start to the season with just one World Tour win.

Alejandro Valverde sprinted away from a tightly bunched pack to win the rain-swept second stage of the Volta a Catalunya yesterday. The Spaniard finished just ahead of Movistar team-mate and compatriot Jose Rojas and Switzerland’s Martin Elmiger. Maciej Paterski of Poland retained the overall lead at the end of the 191.8km (120-mile) mountain stage from Mataro to Olot. The race finishes on Sunday.

Mark Cavendish, who announced yesterday that he will take part in the Prudential RideLondon-Surrey Classic in August, said that the Cycling Independent Reform Commission’s report into doping had achieved little. “To be brutally honest, I don’t really think there’s anything new in there,” he said. “People talk about the past of cycling like it’s the present. It’s a little bit frustrating; that would be an understatement.”