Vandborg still searching for 2012 team

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Brian Vandborg has gone from riding the Tour de France three years consecutively to not having a team.  “It is hard to undertand that there is no room for me on a team at the highest level,” he said. He has also rejected the idea of riding for Christina Watches-Onfone, at a lower level.

“Sometimes it's hard to maintain patience, but I try to keep my spirits up,” he told Ekstrabladet.dk. “It doesn't help to just sit at home and sulk, so I train diligently and I am also in good shape."

The Dane has had an up and down career, riding with top-ranked teams CSC and Discovery Channel from 2004 to 2007. He then dropped to the Continental level with Team GLS – Pakke Shop for one year, before signing with Liquigas for two years.  In 2011 he rejoined Saxo Bank but was not offered a new contract.

“I still believe that there are possibilities. I have some openings all around, but it's bad times for the sport where the money is not what it was,“ he said.

For 2012 he has been linked to Christina Watches-Onfone, the Continental-ranked team based around Michael Rasmussen. “I have enormous respect for the great work the Danish Continental teams are doing, and I don't mind running at a slightly lower level than the World Tour,” he said. 

But his problem was with the great difference between “the Tour de France one year and riding on a continental team in Denmark the next year,” and he didn't think he could bridge that gap.

“If it is my only option, then I think I'd rather find something else to do. There are a lot of nice people in Denmark who want to help me, but I am now again - with all due respect - accustomed to a much higher level and it is the level that I will ride,” he said.