Holm calls proposed new Rasmussen team a marketing stunt

Brian Holm has called plans to form a new cycling team around Michael Rasmussen a “marketing stunt.” The directeur sportif at HTC-Columbia scoffed at the plans of the Christina Racing to build a new team in which Rasmussen would be captain and co-owner.

Rasmussen's personal sponsor, Christina Hembo, had said she would set up the team in response to Rasmussen's failure to get a contract with Saxo Bank-SunGard for the coming season. He has been riding under the Christina Racing team name as the team's only rider since July.

"You can only smile at such plans,” Holm told sporten.dk. “But if Hembo works really fast and puts up about 10 million Krone, she might have a chance at a wildcard for the Tour of Luxembourg or Hessen Rundfahrt.” “It is not an easy task to start a cycling team with the entire organizational set-up. Just for a start you need to have cars, bikes, masseurs and mechanics assigned,” Holm continued.

"There there is the problem of finding more riders. “Riders are also not easy to find at this time of season when most have contracts for 2011.”

He recommended instead that “She might consider giving money to the Herning Cycle Club, where she will be doing some good for racing. But I have trouble seeing Hembo's project as anything more than a marketing stunt.”