Bjarne Riis has left Tinkoff-Saxo – the team he founded – a little more than a year after selling the squad’s WorldTour licence to Oleg Tinkov.

The 1996 Tour de France champion – who later admitted taking EPO the year he won – had been absent from the team’s recent races after a below-par start to the season.

And, amid suggestions Tinkov has been unimpressed with the team’s lack of success on the bike this season, the Dane and the team’s managing company have agreed to mutually terminate his contract, according to a team statement.

Riis leaves the team with immediate effect, with the terms of the agreement to remain confidential according to the Tinkoff Sport A/S statement.

The team is to announce the ‘new structure of its technical and performance group’ early this week.