30-year-old Timmy Duggan won the U.S. National Road Race Championship this year while riding for Team Liquigas-Cannondale. He had originally signed for Canadian Team SpiderTech for the 2013 season, but then became available, when the team decided to postpone its racing activities for the coming year after the publication of the USADA report on doping in professional cycling, but officially in order to focus on a 2014 WorldTour bid.

As a part of Duggan's move to Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank, SpiderTech will become a partner of Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank in 2013, the team announced.

34-year-old Evgeny Petrov joins Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank from Team Astana. He achieved one of the biggest results of his career so far when he won stage 11 of the 2010 Giro d'Italia.

Before riding for Team Astana, Petrov rode for Katusha Team. In 2007-2008 Petrov rode for the Tinkoff Credit Systems team, which was owned by Oleg Tinkoff who is now sponsoring Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank.

According to Italian daily Gazzetta Dello Sport Petrov consulted the infamous Dr. Michele Ferrari while being part of the Katusha Team. While riding for Team Lampre in the 2005 Tour de France Petrov was asked to leave the race "for health reasons," because his blood samples showed a hematocrit level of more than 50 percent.

Takashi Miyazawa (34) signed with Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank last year and is deployed by the team as lead-out man for the its sprinters.

"We are getting close to finalizing our 2013 roster. With the confirmation of these three riders we are adding solid depth in different areas of the team. Duggan is a climbing allrounder, Petrov a strong allrounder and Takashi a great helper when setting up a sprint for his team mates. I believe these guys will bring great value to our roster, and I look forward to them joining our team for next year," team owner Bjarne Riis explained.

"I am thrilled to join Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank," Duggan commented.

"After my previous team turned out the lights I was left scrambling for a job, but luckily Bjarne (Riis) saw a good opportunity in me and felt that I would be a good fit for the team. So I am thrilled to make a late signing into a fantastic situation."

"Throughout my career I've admired Bjarne's world-class focus on the team aspect of cycling and I always wanted to be a part of that. For me there are already many friends and familiar faces on the team, so combined with the focus on team building I know it will be a comfortable and effective environment," Duggan added.

Commenting on his signing Petrov said "For me it is a fantastic opportunity to ride for such a strong team as Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank, and personally I also take pride in riding for a team co-sponsored by a Russian company. So I'm really looking forward to the challenge and to meet my new team mates. I believe we have a very strong team in many kind of races, and I will do my best to contribute to the team's success."

"It has been a fantastic experience to be part of Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank in 2012," Miyazawa explained and added "As a bike rider I have learned a lot during my first year with the team. The whole setup here is very professional and the rider and staff groups are just great, so to be able to continue on this team, and to be able to continue to represent Japanese cycling on the highest level is something that makes me very proud."

Some pro cycling analysts view the signing of Petrov and Miyazawa as a move made to please the team sponsors who have special interests in both the Russian and Japanese markets. Other analysts view the signing as a result of the team's need to strengthen its roster to be able to remain part of the increasingly competitive WorldTour on a longer term.