Contador will not attend 'pointless' Tour of Beijing

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Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank - Tinkoff Bank) and his team owner Bjarne Riis have stated the recently crowned Vuelta a España winner will not compete at the upcoming Tour of Beijing - unless his points count towards the team.

"It makes no sense that Alberto Contador promote their race, if we do not get anything back. He will be a huge name over there, and he cannot even score some points. It makes no sense. And why should he go there? I cannot see why," said Riis to Sporken.dk.

Contador returned from serving a doping suspension at the Eneco Tour after his positive test at the 2010 Tour de France and while he won a stage and the overall at the Vuelta, his WorldTour points will not count towards the team’s points tally when the UCI asses their criteria for next season’s ProTeam license.

The UCI has already informed the Spaniard and his team that his WorldTour points will not contribute to the team’s total for the 2012 or 2013 season. Considering the team was last, sitting in 18th place, in the UCI’s standings earlier in the year, Contador’s points are vital for the team to continue in the top league for the coming seasons.

Riis will seek to challenge to the UCI’s ruling in order to have his star rider’s points accumulated to Saxo Bank - Tinkoff’s tally however, the UCI are remaining firm on the matter and so Riis will seek to have the matter overruled at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

"I think we have a good case, and we have our right to the point, as Alberto Contador entering. Everything else is meaningless," said Riis.