Bjarne Riis agrees with report stating he ignored doping at Team CSC
Last Updated: 26/06/15 5:10pm
Former Tour de France winner Bjarne Riis has agreed with a report which states he ignored doping when manager of Team CSC.
Riis was named in a report by the Danish Anti-Doping Authority and the country's National Olympic Committee which said he knew about drug-taking in the team but failed to act on it.
"The bottom line unfortunately is that the conclusion of the reports is correct. There is no doubt about that. I have not lived up to my responsibility," Riis said in a statement.
"When I then had a feeling that a rider was heading in the wrong direction, I was not always quick enough to indicate that (the rider's) behavior was not acceptable."
He told Denmark’s TV2 channel that he "was not mature enough to take the responsibility" as manager of one of cycling's top teams, adding "my credibility is not very big."
Riis said he made the statement "because I have a need to express regret for my mistakes and put an end to it all."
Denmark's anti-doping agency said on Tuesday that Riis had "a greater responsibility" as a top manager who could suspend doping users and report them to the anti-doping authorities. Riis said he himself had been interviewed by Anti-Doping Denmark for the report.
Riis is currently unemployed after Russian billionaire Oleg Tinkov - who bought the team from Riis in 2013 and renamed it Team Tinkoff-Saxo - terminated his contract in March.
