"The clear difference between today and yesterday is the Fed decision, " said Steen Jakobsen, chief economist at Saxo Bank.

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Contador will compete for his new Saxo Bank team in the Tour of Algarve, a five-stage race through southern Portugal.

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However, Steen Jakobsen, chief economist at Saxo Bank, said a cut in rates was unlikely to solve the crisis in the Eurozone.

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"The market's really just trying to work out which leg to stand on, " said Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank.

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The race starts with a short team time trial in Venice on Saturday, with Stapleton's Team Columbia and the Garmin, Astana and Saxo Bank squads expected to feature.

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By mid-2012, Saxo Bank predicts that the stock market will finally cave beneath the pressure of the unsolved European debt crisis, which will result in a fast 25% drop in equities.

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Still, Saxo Bank's Christensen believes the euro will disappear at some point in the future -- and despite hitting 13-month highs -- because he believes overall support does not exist.

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Saxo Bank, including Luxembourg's Andy and Frank Schleck and Swiss time trial world champion Fabian Cancellara, were third, 12 seconds behind the winners and two seconds off the Liquigas outfit of Italy's Vincenzo Nibali.

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