Riis returns with team, Dumoulin goes home - Tour de France shorts

Riis to take over Danish Continental team

Bjarne Riis has taken his first steps in returning to cycling with the former Tour de France winner and Lars Seier, former CEO of Saxo Bank, taking over the Danish Continental Team Trefor. It is now known as Team Virtu Pro-Veloconcept, and "will act as a development team to a future 'WorldTour' (team) performing at the world's highest (level)."

Virtu Pro is an "ambitious fitness bike project" from Riis and Seier. Veloconcept is "a Danish company closely related to Jan Bech, a well-known investor of Broenby IF and Danish top football."

The agreement is only for the remainder of the 2016 season, but discussions for the future are underway. Riis and Seier will "take part in the overall planning of the future strategy, however they will not take part in the daily management and operations of the team."

"We are pleased to be supporting the Danish cycling scene with this initiative, and we consider it as an important element in our foundation of a future international cycling team. In this context it seems logical for us to sponsor this Continental team," Riis and Seier said in a statement.

Cyclingnews will have an exclusive interview with Riis about his new project in the coming days.

Dumoulin returns to home

Tom Dumoulin has returned to the Netherlands, with hopes of still racing in the Rio Olympics. "I will go find the best specialist and see what is possible," he told nos.nl.

Mollema took too many risks, says Andersen

Bauke Mollema took too many risks in the descent of the Montee de Bisanne, his Trek-Segafredo DS Kim Andersen told telesport.nl. The Dutch rider crashed on the slippery roads and dropped from second to tenth in GC.

"He is not a hero in descending," Andersen said. "In my view it was not the time to attack. He was second, so why take unnecessary risks? This was the doomsday scenario which we were afraid of in the morning. Especially with that bad weather on the horizon. Unfortunately, it came true."

Theuns to leave hospital

Edward Theuns is scheduled to leave hospital today, six days after spinal surgery. He now faces a lengthy rehabilitation.

The Trek-Segafredo rider crashed during the time trial on stage 13 of the Tour de France, fracturing his T12 vertebra. Last weekend he was flown to Belgiujm and underwent surgery to repair the unstable fracture on Sunday.

According to the Belga press agency, he was given the ok to go home today. He now faces up to eight weeks off the bike in recovery, and it seems unlikely he will return to racing this season.

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