With Bjarne Riis’ autobiography continuing to gain media attention, the attention has turned from the Dane’s dark past in doping to another issue further back in his career.
Riis turned pro with the Roland team in 1986 and one year later, signed for the Lucas team. He describes the latter in less than flattering light in his book, giving two incidences where he felt the team behaved in a completely incorrect manner.
The main one was in the 1987 Vuelta a España, where he was the sole rider left in the race after his team-mates all withdrew. He said pressure was put on him to pull out and let everyone go home and, when he persisted, underhand methods were used to get him to retire from the event.
“I don’t have any proof,” he writes. “But I am convinced that the gangsters on the team had poisoned me to force me out of the race so they could go home.”
He elaborated on this claim to Ritzau, saying that his conclusion is the most logical one. “It’s the idea I got when I woke up in the morning. It was the only logical thing I could think of – after all, they were bored, and had to tried to push me to stop.”
Riis describes an almost-comically slipshod approach to team management, saying that his salary of 9000 kroner a month wasn’t paid during the season. Exasperated by the team’s non-compliance, he went directly to the furniture manufacturers who backed the team to try to get satisfaction.
But rather than cash, they tried to settle things in another way. “They came with new furniture for me instead of paying salaries,” he said. Signing for Toshiba the following season was a major step forward, as was moving to Castorama in 1989 and starting to work alongside his mentor, Laurent Fignon.
Rasmussen still could race for Saxo Bank - Sungard
Fast forward over two decades and now Riis is the one calling the shots at the head of a team. He was said yesterday to have finally ruled out the signing of double Tour de France King of the Mountains Michael Rasmussen to the team, but now is saying that was inaccurate.
“I was misquoted,” he told BT, “what I said was the same as what I always said. Michael deserves a chance, but that does not mean he should race with me.
“I have opened a door and if I choose not to sign Michael Rasmussen, I will close the door again in a decent way towards Michael and the people around him. I will not do it in the press first.”
His personal sponsor Christina Hembo has agreed to cover his salary if he is signed, meaning that Riis will not have to put in extra cash. His consideration is likely to be towards Rasmussen’s controversial past, given that he was sent home from the 2007 Tour de France while leading as he had lied about his whereabouts beforehand. He is also rumoured to have been linked to a blood doping ring in Austria.
It’s quite possible that Riis is waiting to see if Rasmussen is fully cleared of such matters before the decision is taken to bring him on board. Hembo feels that things are moving forward. “He has informed us that he is very interested in Michael, but that there were just some things that should fall into place before he can decide in favour of Michael. Bjarne says he hopes that Michael is again allowed to race at the highest level and that he has earned it, that is is very difficult when you have served a suspension.”