If a super bike, however super, is a little down market, grander statements can be made.

For a cool €6 million, you could always purchase a team – at least, that’s the amount paid by Russian financier Oleg Tinkov earlier this month for Riis Cycling.

Tinkov’s purchase, complete with the WorldTour licence for the team now known as Tinkoff-Saxo, was confirmed at a press conference in London.

But what sort of bang do you get for your buck? Well, providing you haven’t publicly lambasted the efforts of your new team’s leader, you get a multiple Grand Tour winning Spaniard named Alberto Contador for starters.

Add to that, an Irish star whose father happens to have won the sport’s holy grail, Nico Roche and a Czech ace, Roman Kreuziger, who stormed to Amstel Gold Race victory before an impressive Tour de France this year.

You also get rising Polish star Rafal Majka and a host of willing domestiques on the roster too.

The downside? Well, you’re now €6 million out of pocket, your team largely failed to live up to expectations last year and, well, there’s some mighty stiff competition to face again next year.