Riis hopes for speedy decision from CAS in Contador case

Bjarne Riis hopes for a quick ruling in the International Cycling Union's appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport of the dismissal of doping charges against Alberto Contador. The Saxo Bank-SunGard team owner said that he would continue to support the Spanish rider.

"The rules say, that the parties of a case have the opportunity to appeal any decision to the CAS. He UCI has decided to do so in the case concerning Alberto Contador, and naturally we respect this. Now my hope is, that we can have a final ruling as quickly as possible," Riis said in a press release issued Thursday afternoon.

Contador tested positive for Clenbuterol during the 2010 Tour de France. The Spanish cycling federation dismissed the charges against him, ruling that it was unintentional.

"I would like to remind everybody, that this is still Alberto Contador's case. As a team we can't do much but to wait for CAS to reach a decision.

“But I would also like to remind everybody, that Alberto Contador was acquitted in the first place and therefore is innocent of any deliberate wrongdoing until a ruling says something else. And as long as this is a case of accidental intake of a forbidden substance, we will continue to support Alberto Contador. In our opinion it would be unfair to do anything else."

Contador is currently riding the Vuelta a Catalunya, where he has the overall lead. He plans to ride the Giro d'Italia, and Riis hopes that the Spaniard will be able to defend his Tour de France title.

It is possible but not likely that the CAS could issue its final ruling before the Giro starts in six weeks.