Bjarne Riis admits EPO abuse

“I used doping. I used EPO. It was my own choice. “said Bjarne Riis today at a press conference in Copenhagen, Denmark. The winner of Tour de France 1996 has previously claimed that he won the Tour de France without using illegal substances. However, today he changed that explanation.

Doping confessions from Team Telekom
It is not a big surprise that Bjarne Riis decides to explain his past now. Since the former soigneur at the Telekom Team, Jef d’Hont, published his book about doping abuse, there has been increasing pressure on the successful riders from the German team. Moreover, this week Udo Bölts, Christian Henn, Rolf Aldag, Erik Zabel and Brian Holm confessed EPO abuse in the Tour de France 1996, confessions that made it even more difficult for Bjarne Riis to neglect what happened when he won the race.

Bjarne Riis introduced cycling as a sport in Denmark.
It’s a sad day for cycling enthusiasts from all over the world, especially for Danish cycling fans. Bjarne Riis was the rider that introduced cycling to most of the riders I train, and Bjarne Riis has actually been riding in my local cycling club when he was 8 years old. It was a dream to watch him win the Tour de France back in 1996, and I guess most people in Denmark remember that summer as something special. But it was an illusion that he won without illegal substances, and I think that most people are convinced that professional cyclists used EPO in the ’90s. Of course, there were probably clean people in the peloton, but I guess they were a minority at that time.

You can ride, but you can’t hide.
After Bjarne Riis’ victory, journalists started to look at what happened behind the scene. A journalist from Danish television worked undercover as soigneur on an Italian team, Gewiss Ballan. He found out that Bjarne Riis was medicated with EPO when he was on the Gewiss Ballan team in 1995. Riis’ relationship with Dr Cecchini has been the topic in many media for the last 11 years. Why was he using a doctor as a coach, and why was he having the same coach as several of his competitors had? It is not strange that people got curious.

Bjarne Riis started as a director on the CSC team back in 2000, and since then, there have been several episodes that didn’t improve his reputation as a clean rider. Remember the Tyler Hamilton case and the Ivan Basso case. These things all point in one direction: Bjarne Riis was doped back in the ’90s, and he has used his successful experiences from that time to improve his team captains on Team CSC.

Now with the confessions from almost all his teammates, the Telekom doctors and the riders he worked so close with at the Team CSC, Riis finally found out that it was time to confess. I guess it was one of his most complex decisions ever, but probably a decision that will make life easier for him in the future.

I hope that all riders cheating themselves, their families, friends, and their cycling fans will confess. Remember: You can ride, but you can’t hide. So someday, people will find out if you’ve cheated them.

It is uncertain who will be the next rider to confess.