CSC launch testing plan

Close to 800 tests will be collected from Team CSC riders starting in December and going on throughout the 2007 season.

Directeur Sportif Bjarne Riis told the team's website: "Our ambition is to be pioneers in the work against doping, so we are very proud to initiate this programme. We think it gives us a unique possibility to do something for the future of cycling and maybe sport in general.

"I have no qualms about submitting our riders to the most rigorous tests out there, because we want cycling to be a clean sport. I have faith in the fact that our riders have the right attitude and I would like for them to be able to show this to the world.

"I am hoping this initiative will pave the way for other teams to follow and as a result help rid our sport of doping altogether.

"We have taken a very big step towards this and it will help demonstrate how serious we are about anti-doping, and at the same time we firmly believe that given the right conditions professional cycling has a great future ahead of it."