UCI Hour world record holder Victor Kampenaerts is not concerned about the reputation of the NTT team's new coach, Bjarne Riis, and told Het Laatste Nieuws (opens in new tab) (HLN) that the Dane's record as a coach is more important than his past involvement in doping. He said that the Dane's track record as a coach was more important than his history of involvement in doping.

Riis and his business partners, Lars Seel Christensen and Jan Beck Andersen, have reached an agreement with NTT team principal Doug Ryder to buy a one-third stake in the NTT team, and former Tour de France winner Riis has agreed to take Ryder's former Riis will move into the role of manager, a position previously held by Ryder. Mikkelsen replaced Rolf Aldag, and Bak replaced Jean-Pierre Heindelix, who had moved to Bora-Hansgrohe, in the DS position.

Speaking to HLN from a training camp in Namibia, Kampenaerts said that Baku assured him that Riis was the best coach.

"He may not have been the most honorable man in his time. But now I see his qualities as a manager first and foremost."

Bak and Kampenaerts were teammates at Lot Soudal in 2018 and spoke about Riis then. 'It was a time when I couldn't imagine that [Riis] would one day be the manager of my team.' And it was easier to ask questions about doping," Kampenaerts said. Bak added that he had nothing negative to say about Riis.

Riis led the CSC, Saxo Bank, and Saxo Tinkoff teams before leaving the World Tour due to a disagreement with Oleg Tinkoff. During his time as manager, he won the 2006 Giro d'Italia with Ivan Basso.

He led CSC when Carlos Sastre won the Tour de France, but the team's main leaders were Frank and Andy Schleck. He also led Alberto Contador when he won the 2011 Giro d'Italia. Contador had a controversial doping case in the 2010 Tour de France (while with Astana), but lost an appeal to CAS and was stripped of that victory. Alberto Contador also won the Vuelta a España in 2012 and 2014.

But all the while, Riis's doping activities continued to tarnish his reputation. First, former soigner Jeff Dehon wrote a book about Riis's doping practices, leading to the Dane's confession that he had used EPO, growth hormone, and cortisone during his career. In addition, a book by Tyler Hamilton outlines how Riis referred athletes to Eufemiano Fuentes, the doping doctor who headed the blood doping ring decimated by Operacion Puerto.

Anti-Doping Denmark investigated and found extensive doping practices under the CSC lease, but could not sanction him due to the statute of limitations.

Having a coach who has participated in extensive doping schemes in the past, Campenaerts, who describes Team NTT's medical guidance as "holier than the Pope" and is 99.999% certain that there is no longer an organized doping system in professional teams This does not seem to ring any alarm bells for the

"For everything you do wrong, these days you are ultimately responsible," he said.

"I can't imagine that Douglas Ryder took this lightly in his many previous conversations with Riis. If there had been any doubt that his image would be detrimental to the team, the deal would not have gone through. If you look at what Bjarne has accomplished as team manager, he really knows how to approach things."

Kampenaerts hopes that Ries, once the best time trialist in the world, will help him raise his game, as did his former performance manager at Lotto Soudal.

"Maybe Kevin de Wirt 2.0 is in him. I have a very good feeling about it and look forward to working with them."