Following months of speculation regarding Bjarne Riis’s return to cycling, ‘The Eagle from Herning’ has finally swooped down to reveal his new cycling project.
Teaming up with Lars Seier Christensen, the former CEO of Saxo Bank, he has heralded his comeback to Danish cycling by taking over a Danish second tier team, the Pro Continental outfit Team Virtu Pro-VéloCONCEPT, along with women’s team Team BMS Birn, a World Tour team as of next year.
“I see great potential in both teams,” said Riis. “They have improved immensely in recent years and have been a part of carrying Danish cycling’s talents up to the big stage. We want to make the teams even better and continue developing Danish riders, both men and women.”
“Already from next season both teams will comprise of some of the biggest Danish talents and established riders, which can race for victories in Denmark and abroad. And with a professional Danish women’s team on the World Tour, we hope to inspire young female riders to keep training so Denmark can continue producing world-class talent.”
READ MORE: Bjarne is back: New Danish cycling team in the making
Skelde back too
Team BMS Birn will become the first Danish women’s team on the World Tour next season.
One of the first moves Riis made was bringing on the noted Danish talent developer Michael Skelde, who was team director at CULT Energy Pro Cycling.
Skelde is known for his ability to foster talent. His ambition with Riis is to create “the world’s best talent development team”.
