Bobby Julich, one of the riders, said that "those days in the bush bonded us much closer and given [sic] us the strategies to work as a team in any racing situation". The company behind the team, initially named Professional Cycling Denmark, was created in autumn 1996 by former amateur cycling world champion Alex Pedersen, Finn Poulsen (representing Bestseller), Torben Kølbæk and Johannes Poulsen (from Herning CK), and Bjarne Riis (then a Team Telekom rider). The team was built on the team license of Danish amateur team Herning CK, with headquarters in Herning, Denmark, with the goal of being picked for the 2000 Tour de France. The team was assembled for 1998 with Alex Pedersen and Torben Kølbæk as sports directors. The team started with 11 riders, a mix of first-time professionals with Danish veterans Brian Holm and Jesper Skibby who had competed in the Tour de France several times, Skibby having won stage 5 in 1993. The main sponsors were a Danish real estate agency (home a/s), and a clothes manufacturer (Jack & Jones, a brand owned by Bestseller) and the budget was around €1,000,000 for 1998, including secondary sponsors. The team rode its first season in 2nd Division races, and during the first month both Christian Andersen and Jesper Skibby had minor wins. Holm quit the team in April 1998. The doping scandal in the 1998 Tour de France didn't affect the team directly, but Riis, who was part of the peloton in the Tour de France, was branded a doping cheat in the Danish media in early 1999. He sold his stock in Professional Cycling Denmark. The team finished 32nd best of 1998, and with an increased budget of €2,400,000 combined, the number of riders was increased to 14, with riders of a higher standard. In terms of races won, 1999 was the most successful season until 2005: with 26 UCI victories the team was promoted to the 1st Division. In September 1999 Belgian rider Marc Streel was tested with a hematocrit level of 53.4, a value above 50 being an indicator of EPO doping, and he was fired  Home stopped sponsoring the team from the end of the season, citing doping. For 2000, Memory Card A/S, a Danish producer of memory cards, stepped in as co-sponsor and Danish cyclist Bo Hamburger was brought in as captain.