Riis Cycling continues to support Alberto Contador
[07.02 19:20] After having the time to review the ruling from The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in the case concerning Alberto Contador, Riis Cycling continues to support the Spanish rider.
The ruling states that Alberto Contador has to serve a ban, because he had a banned substance in his body and was unable to prove how it entered his system.
However the ruling also states the presence of clenbuterol was unlikely to have been caused by conscious cheating and instead was more likely caused by ingestion of a contaminated supplement.
"After having the time to study the ruling we continue to support Alberto Contador based on the CAS verdict. We can only respect the ruling, and this means that Alberto Contador now has to serve a ban. But the conclusion of the ruling is vital for the team, as the ruling focuses on the likely cause being ingestion of a contaminated supplement and at the same time states that this is unlikely to have been a case of conscious cheating," team owner Bjarne Riis states.
At the same time Riis Cycling welcomes on the fact that the case finally reached a decision.
"Obviously, putting an end to this case is something we have been looking forward to. To get back to a point where we can actually start to have a real influence on things again," Bjarne Riis says.
"We have asked ourselves many times during this case, could we as a team have done things any differently? I really don't think we could have done things differently than what we have done trying to support every one of our riders. We inherited this case, and patiently we had to wait for a final decision. All along, we have diligently acted in accordance with the rules," Bjarne Riis continues. |
