Holczer speaks out

Hans-Michael Holczer, team manager of Gerolsteiner, assumes that his sponsor will renew its contract through 2010, but understands why it "will wait until after the Tour de France."

Speaking to radsport-news.com, Holczer said that, "In light of the current situation I can not only understand that the sponsor wants to wait until after the Tour, but I would also recommend it." The mineral-water bottler is apparently inclined to renew its contract -- barring any further doping scandals.

Holczer reiterated his own anti-doping stand, saying that if one of his riders tested positive, he would throw him out "with pleasure." And he has a proposal to aid in the Fuentes investigation. "We should make a DNA comparison for every ProTour rider to see if their blood was being held by Fuentes. I don't see any other solution."

He also defended the team's directeur sportif, Christian Henn, who retired from racing after testing positive for testosterone. . "That is the past, which has no relevance for me. Christian has done great work for us the last seven years."