New Russian professional team

Yesterday Russian president Vladimir Putin expressed his desire to the UCI to have a ProTour status event in the country as early as next year. Apparently Putin isn't stopping there.

The Russian is planning a new professional cycling team in the same vein as the Kazakhstan's Astana, according to Sportensverden.dk. The project has already been approved by the Russian Cycling Federation with more details set to be released some time this week.

According to a source close to the new team, for 2008 the squad will become a Professional Continental squad, with the aim to become larger as the team gains more experience. The team will be subsidised by the Russian government, much like Astana.