Tinkoff-Saxo riders to begin serious training at Gran Canaria camp

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The Tinkoff-Saxo will gather in Gran Canaria between December 5-18 for a key training camp, with the aim of laying down the foundations for the 2016 season. After the loss of Saxo Bank as a second sponsor, the team will be know simply as Tinkoff in 2016 thanks to the support of team owner Oleg Tinkov and the Russia-based Tinkoff Bank company.

World champion Peter Sagan, Alberto Contador and the rest of the 27-rider roster for 2016 will again stay at the ANFI Tauro resort to enjoy the warm weather training the Spanish island offers. The team held a planning get together in late October in Croatia and intends to focus on training in Gran Canaria as the first races of the new season begin to loom on the horizon.

“We have set a rigorous plan of daily training sessions and thanks to the year-round sunshine in Gran Canaria and the little-travelled roads, we are certain we will make the most of it. All riders will also complement the time on the bike with daily sessions of core training,” Steven de Jongh, the head directeur sportif said in an announcement from the team.

“The mountainous terrain of Gran Canaria provides us with challenging training routes for long rides and physical testing on climbs. In addition, all riders will have two weeks to get to know each other, ahead of the 2016 season. Although the core of our squad remains unchanged, with Alberto Contador and Peter Sagan again our stand-out names, we had new signings as well as a number of riders that moved to other teams, so it is important for us to start building in this camp a close-knit group of riders. Last but certainly not least, the ANFI training camp will be the best opportunity for Ivan Basso and Ján Valach to enter into their new roles of, respectively, Technical Coordinator and Sport Director.”

The Tinkoff-Saxo team unveiled a special camouflage training kit during last year’s camp in Gran Canaria and revealed they plan to reveal another new look for 2016. Training kits are not regulated by UCI rules, allowing teams and clothing sponsors to be creative. Sportful will again supply the team’s kit in 2016.

Team Tinkoff for 2016: Erik Baška, Daniele Bennati, Adam Blythe, Manuele Boaro, Maciej Bodnar, Pavel Brutt, Alberto Contador, Oscar Gatto, Michael Gogl, Jesper Hansen, Jesús Hernández, Robert Kiserlovski, Michael Kolar, Roman Kreuziger, Rafal Majka, Jay McCarthy, Sergio Paulinho, Evgeny Petrov, Pawel Poljanski, Michael Rogers, Ivan Rovny, Juraj Sagan, Peter Sagan, Matteo Tosatto, Yuri Trofimov, Nikolay Trusov and Michael Valgren.