Riis to hold press conference

Hot on the heels of doping confessions from former Team Telekom riders Erik Zabel, Rolf Aldag, Christian Henn, Bert Dietz and the admissions from team doctors Andreas Schmid and Lothar Heinrich that they administered doping products to the team's riders, Team CSC director Bjarne Riis has called a press conference scheduled to be held in Denmark on Friday.

Zabel admitted to using the banned blood boosting hormone EPO during the 1996 Tour de France, a race won by Riis who was also riding for Team Telekom. Riis, the director of Team CSC since 2001, must now respond to the confessions of his former colleagues and doctors, all of whom refused to speak about any other riders' activities.

Riis has also been indirectly criticised by Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme, who, speaking at the Giro d'Italia on Thursday said, "Not only the riders have to pay for the doping culture that we have to get rid of. Those at the command of the teams, whether they have cheated or not, they have to pay as well."