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Contador 'is not guilty'

Copenhagen - Saxo Bank team manager Bjarne Riis has backed his team leader Alberto Contador ahead of the Spanish rider's participation in a training camp.

Contador has been provisionally suspended after a small concentration of the banned substance clenbuterol was found in a urine sample taken in July, but the three-time Tour de France winner was included in a 25-man roster that will start team-building in Spain on Sunday.

If found guilty of using clenbuterol, a banned muscle-building and weight-loss drug, Contador could lose his third Tour title and face a two-year ban.

"I think it is important that we all remember that Alberto is not guilty until a judgment is made that indicates something otherwise," Riis said. "This has been the message from the UCI, and I think we should all respect that. We have also met with the UCI, and they have assured us that there are no problems in taking Alberto to our team building camp."

Riis earlier said he trusted Contador's explanation that the drug came from a contaminated steak.

Contador signed a deal in August to compete for Saxo Bank-SunGard in 2011 after deciding to leave Astana. The complete team presented Wednesday didn't include former Tour de France yellow jersey holder Michael Rasmussen of Denmark.

Rasmussen, who led the 2007 Tour until he was kicked off for lying about his training whereabouts when he missed pre-race doping tests, had been linked several times to the team.

Rasmussen, whose main appearance in Denmark in recent months has been in a televised dancing contest, was "shocked" that Riis didn't pick him.

"I am deeply disappointed and sad about it," he told Danish news agency Ritzau. "I really wanted very much to be racing again for Bjarne's team."

This week, Riis added Italian rider Matteo Tosatto to the team which he said was "a strong, exciting and very diverse group with expertise in all terrains and in all types of races."

The riders come from Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Denmark, Britain, Italy, Luxembourg, Poland, Spain, Sweden and Ukraine.

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