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Larsson extends, Mørkøv signs with Riis

By VeloNews.com
Published: Nov. 3, 2008
Larsson scored silver in Beijing.
Larsson scored silver in Beijing.
Photo: Graham Watson

Gustav Larsson, the silver medalist time trialist from the Beijing Olympic Games, has penned a three-year contract extension with Saxo Bank-IT Factory (formerly CSC-Saxo Bank).

Larsson was rumored to be considering a deal with Caisse d’Epargne, but the 28-year-old Swede decided to stay with Bjarne Riis.

Larsson -- who finished 14th in this year’s Giro d’Italia along with top-10s in the Tour of California, Criterium International, Tirreno-Adriatico and the Tour of Denmark – saw his profile rocket after mining silver in the Olympic Games.

“Winning in Beijing was the best thing that ever happened to me. It was the highlight of my career,” Larsson said. “I had said at the beginning of the season that I wanted to win the gold medal in Beijing. Unfortunately for me, my teammate (Fabian Cancellara) said the same thing!”

His medal was big news back in Sweden. After Beijing, he flew home to make some public appearances before racing to a disappointing fifth at the world time trial championships in Varese.

“It was huge. We didn’t have many medal winners in Sweden and we didn’t win any gold medals at all, so there were not so many of us who took medals,” he said. “It was a really nice feeling after the Olympics. I went on some TV shows. After Beijing, it was hard to come back into form again for the worlds. My medal was a big story in Sweden.”

Riis also signed another promising young Danish rider to a two-year contract.

The 23-year-old Michael Mørkøv, who also won a silver medal in Beijing with the team pursuit on the track, will join track teammate Alex Rasmussen on the Danish road team next season.

“Michael is the latest in a group of talented Danish riders, whom we’ve had our eye on for a while. His qualities are obvious: he’s got power and speed from the track and at the same time he’s an intelligent rider, whose technical skills are among the best in his generation,” Riis said. “I think that he – like Alex Rasmussen – has great potential on the roads and I’m sure it will be extremely exciting for all of us to work with him.”