Orica BikeExchange arguably made one of the most astute signings of the summer when they snapped up Roman Kreuziger on a two-year deal from the soon to be defunct Tinkoff squad, and the Tour de France top-10 finisher has told Cyclingnews that Vincenzo Nibali was keen to attract him to the new Bahrain Merida team.
Kreuziger, 30, shares the same agent as Peter Sagan and at the start of the year the Tinkoff rider sat down with his family and representative to discuss the future.
“My manager and I were talking in January and we sat down with my wife and we made a list of the WorldTour teams that would be good for me when it came to 2017 and 2018,” Kreuziger told Cyclingnews from his home in the Czech Republic.
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Kreuziger and Nibali came through the ranks at Liquigas and rode the 2008 Tour de France as teammates with Kreuziger finishing 13th and Nibali 19th. A year later they both returned to the Tour and claimed spots in the top ten and although their paths split as they moved to different teams, the pair remained friends. When it came to next season Kreuziger was looking for stability and a new challenge, and while Orica could provide both, the other options out there were not quite on the same level.
“We got it down to around four or five teams but then it went quiet for a couple of months. Orica had been my first choice in January, with BMC as well and then during the Tour my agent called me and said that Orica was interested. I spoke to Matt White and I was really excited. They handled all the contracts really well and the choice for me was pretty clear.
“We had some contact with BMC but they were not sure if they could give me a two year deal at that time. When I changed teams I wanted two years, and Bahrain were also interested because I’m close friends with Vincenzo but we didn’t get an answer from there. I wanted my contract sorted between the Tour and San Sebastian, and I didn’t want to wait for the Vuelta. Nibali wanted me but I think that there was some misunderstanding between his team and my agent, so in the end they didn’t really talk. I talked to Vincenzo and he understood my choice, because he also has a young family and he realised I couldn’t wait forever.”
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