Luxembourg’s Franck Schleck has stated that he wants to continue to race in the same team as his brother Andy who was the 2009 Tour de France runner-up despite doubts over the future of their Saxo Bank team. Frank Schleck, the older brother, finished 5th in last years tour.

“I’d be happy if it continued like that,” Frank said in an interview with Luxembourg’s Le Quotidien newspaper.

“I hope it will be like that. What’s sure is that Andy and me, we’ll always stay together. We’ll talk about it again after the Tour.”

Frank Schleck wins during 2009 Tour

Saxo Bank decided last month to end their sponsorship deal of the cycling team a year earlier than planned.

The bank has sponsored the team since 2008, when it competed under the name CSC-Saxo Bank. It took over as the main sponsor in January 2009 and changed the name to Team Saxo Bank.

Focusing on season targets, Schleck said he was aiming to mirror the achievements of his younger sibling on the Tour.

“I feel capable of doing better than last year,” he said. “For 2010, I’m saying to myself: why not the podium? And if I’m aiming for the podium, why not to win it?

“I would love to do another season like I did last year,” Franck Schleck added. “Since 2005, I haven’t stopped having good results. But this time I would so much like to manage to win the Liege-Bastogne-Liege. And then obviously it would be great to win the Tour or at least finish on the podium.”

Brothers in arms

Schleck is set to resume competition at the Tour of Mallorca on Sunday before moving on to Paris-Nice, which runs from the March 7 to the 14th.