Bjarne Riis sent an email apology to Christian Prudhomme, director of the Tour de France, ahead of the presentation of the 2021 Grande Palais, which is set to take place in Denmark next July.

Prudhomme revealed the route details for the opening three stages of the 2021 Tour de France at an official presentation in Vail on Tuesday. On stage, he was asked about his new position as director of the Riis and WorldTour team NTT Pro Cycling and his future participation in the Tour de France.

Prudhomme confirmed that he had received an email apology from Riis on Monday, the day before his presentation.

"A few weeks ago, I heard that Bjarne Riis had rejoined the cycling team; ASO was not involved in that decision," Prudhomme told the interpreter at the presentation.

"But yesterday (Monday - editorial) I received an email from Bjarne Riis." He said, "I regret what happened, what I said, and how I handled the yellow jersey.

Riis is a controversial figure in pro cycling. He was once hailed as Denmark's most recognizable athlete, but later admitted to using performance enhancing drugs such as EPO, growth hormone, and cortisone.

After admitting to doping in 2007, he offered to give back the yellow jersey he won at the Tour de France.

After retiring as a professional cyclist, he served as manager of WorldTour teams CSC, Saxo Bank, and Tinkoff-Saxo from 1999 to 2015.

Riis was subsequently involved in a detailed investigation by Anti-Doping Denmark in 2015, where he referred athletes to Dr. Eufamiano Fuentes, a Spanish physician who was a key figure in Operacion Puerto's doping investigation and was implicated in extensive doping operations He was found to have been complicit in a wide range of doping operations.

Direct allegations were also made against Reese by former players Tyler Hamilton, Jorge Jakshe, and Michael Rasmussen. However, these charges were past the 10-year statute of limitations.

In 2016, Ries took over the Danish Continental men's team TreFor and renamed the team Team Virtu Pro-Véloconcept. He also launched a women's program called Virtu Cycling from the former BMS Birn team. This team was disbanded at the end of 2019 due to lack of sponsorship. The men's program now operates at the continental level as Team Waoo.

The NTT Pro Cycling team confirmed in January that it had partnered with Riis's Virtu Cycling Group, which includes partners Lars Seel Christensen and Jan Beck Andersen, and Riis is now the director of the UCI WorldTeam.

The Virtu Cycling Group has set a goal of establishing a world team in Denmark; NTT Pro Cycling is currently registered in South Africa, but in a social media post this month, Riis's partner, Saye, said that it is taking longer than expected He wrote that although it is taking longer than expected, getting the team to the 2021 Tour de France remains a priority.

In an interview with Cycling News in January, Riis said he deserves another chance at pro cycling. He promised never to be involved in a doping scandal again, and even said, "If I fail again, put me in jail."

At the 2021 Tour de France Grande Parle Ville, Prudhomme said that Rice's mistake could not be undone, but he would accept the Dane's apology as a move in the right direction.

"It doesn't mean that I draw a line in the past, but I welcome it and it's a step forward," Prudhomme said.