While Jakob Fuglsang and the rest of the Saxo Bank team wonder about their future with Bjarne Riis's squad, the former Tour de France winner has an extra woe to go along with his hopefully forthcoming sponsorship announcement: which nine riders to select for the July 3rd Grand Depart in Rotterdam.
As team director, Kim Andersen pointed out recently, this is a luxury problem to have such a difficult time selecting the team of nine from the ten candidates that include definite starts Andy Schleck, Frank Schleck and Fabian Cancellara, along with six more from a list that boasts Jakob Fuglsang, Matti Breschel, Nicki Sorensen, Jens Voigt, Chris Anker Sorensen, Gustav Larsson, and Stuart O'Grady.
Riis is not enjoying his luxury as he frets over the roster: "I stand with 10 skilled riders ahead of the Tour de France. I only need nine, but at this moment, I still do not know who I will choose."
"I expect that I will take a few more days before making the decision. There are several details that I have gathered, and I will again discuss the situation with my closest colleagues."
Riis continues, "The reflections are in fact based on whether we should concentrate to be in a strong position in the last difficult week in the Pyrenees, or if we should really focus on the first week and make it hard from the start. I assure you that the choice is so difficult, that I am going crazy."
While his decision over his Tour de France roster is causing the big Dane grief, he can at least take solace in the performance of his squad at the recently completed Tour de Suisse.
"It was a fantastic race for us with the final rankings of Frank and Jakob and the two stages wins with Fabian Cancellara and Frank. Frank rode simply the time trial of his life, and Jakob showed what great qualities he has. Everything would have been completed perfectly if Fabian had also won the final time trial, but when he had finished, we both agreed that it was good, but hardly sufficient."