Tinkoff chase Mancebo

Mancebo was one of nine riders caught up in the Spanish doping scandal and banned from the Tour de France, and has not competed on the ProTour since the scandal broke.

"It's concrete, we have received a good offer from Tinkoff," Mancebo's representative David Plaza told As. "But Mancebo still has another season left on his contract with Ag2R and our intention is that he will complete that."

But Ag2R manager Vincent Lavenu has already stated his intent to drop the 30-year-old from the team due to the allegations made against him.

While there are no rules and regulations preventing Mancebo from competing again, all ProTour teams with the exception of the Discovery Channel team, CSC and Manolo Saiz' prospective outfit signed a pact agreeing not to take on any riders under suspicion of doping.

Tinkoff, an ambitious continental team, have already signed American Tyler Hamilton, and have been linked with a move for Jan Ullrich.

The possible recruitment of Francisco Mancebo could open the door to an invitation to compete in next year's Vuelta a Espana.