Slovenian Kump to Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank for a year

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Marko Kump will ride for Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank for one year, the team has announced. The 23-year-old Slovenian will strengthen the Danish team's Spring Classics faction.

Kump “is a strong all-rounder but excels in the tougher one-day races,” the team press release said.  In 2010 he won the U23 Tour of Flanders.

The Slovenian has ridden for his homeland-based Continental-ranked team Adria Mobil from 2007 to 2010, and again this year. In 2011, he was with Geox-TMC. This season he leads the UCI Europe Tour, having won eight UCI races so far in 2012.

"Marko is without a doubt a very talented guy, who I believe can grow into a great Spring Classics rider, but also make results in smaller stage races,” said team owner Bjarne Riis. “He is powerful, he is strong in hilly courses and also strong on the finish line. At the same time Marko has really impressed me this year, and I look forward to have him on the team.”

"I'm just very excited and happy about this new opportunity and the fact that I'm going to ride for Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank next year. It's a great team, so this is a dream come true. I really believe this is the best decision for me, when I think about my future development as a rider," Kump said.