Media reports had initially indicated that Riis had been suspended when he did not appear at the 2015 Milan–San Remo as planned, and that this was due to a disappointing start to the season for the team.

[10] When Bjarne Riis took over in winter 2000, he hired the former Danish Ranger Corps soldier B. S. Christiansen as advisor and they gave CSC a distinct philosophy and training methods.

[11] The team works with four values: communication, loyalty, commitment and respect, with the aim of improving teamwork.

[14] Bobby Julich, one of the riders, said that "those days in the bush bonded us much closer and given [sic] us the strategies to work as a team in any racing situation".

[15] The company behind the team, initially named Professional Cycling Denmark, was created in autumn 1996 by former amateur cycling world champion Alex Pedersen, Finn Poulsen (representing Bestseller), Torben Kølbæk and Johannes Poulsen (from Herning CK), and Bjarne Riis (then a Team Telekom rider).

[17] The team rode its first season in 2nd Division races, and during the first month both Christian Andersen and Jesper Skibby had minor wins.

[20] However, the apparent double standards harmed its image in Denmark and Jack & Jones did not prolong sponsorship, despite Bo Larsen's later being acquitted of doping by a medical report.

After 2000 the contract with Jack & Jones expired, and Riis did not continue working with Memory Card due to their financial difficulties.

CSC (Computer Sciences Corporation) and the European Internet provider World Online took over as sponsors in a combined sponsorship of €4,500,000.

[22] World Online was bought by the Italian telecom giant Tiscali and the team changed on 1 July 2001 to CSC-Tiscali.

The 2001 season was a breakthrough with Jalabert's win of the King of the Mountains competition and a stage on Bastille Day at the Tour de France.

[citation needed] The team brought on Ivan Basso from Fassa Bortolo to join Carlos Sastre in competing for Grand Tour wins.

Following an off-season marred by financial difficulties that resulted in wage cuts for a number of riders,[24] the 2005 spring season was the strongest yet for CSC, with wins by Julich and Jens Voigt.

Midway through the 2005 Tour de France, CSC extended sponsorship until 2008[25] at a higher level, enabling Riis to renew the contract with Basso for an additional three years.

Sastre took over as captain and was the strongest in the favorite group on the last mountain stages, but a poor last time trial placed him fourth overall.

His contract was cancelled by mutual consent,[30] and the case against Basso was eventually dropped by the Federazione Ciclistica Italiana for lack of evidence,[31] but without him authorizing a DNA test that could have cleared him conclusively.

Meanwhile, on the road, Voigt dominated the Deutschland Tour, winning overall and three stages, including a mountain finish and a time trial.

Sastre came fourth in the Vuelta after starting in the lead when CSC won the initial team time trial.

New rider Juan José Haedo gave the team a good start by winning early minor races.

Alexander Vinokourov tested positive and leader Michael Rasmussen was withdrawn by his team for "internal code violations".

Because of the team's link to drug use (Riis admitted doping, and Basso was suspended until 2008), MAN Trucks dropped co-sponsorship midway through 2007.

[34] CSC announced[35] that they would not renew the contract in spring 2008, meaning Riis Cycling A/S would need a new main sponsor from 2009.

[42] On 29 July 2010, Andy Schleck and his brother Fränk announced their departure from the team effective from the start of the 2011 season.

[44] On 25 June 2012 it was announced that the Russian Tinkoff Bank would join the team as co-sponsors for the rest of the 2012 season and through to the end of 2013.

Media reports had initially indicated that Riis had been suspended when he did not appear at the 2015 Milan–San Remo as planned, and that this was due to a disappointing start to the season for the team.

[54] In a December 2015 interview, Tinkov announced that he would sell the team at the end of the 2016 season, citing on the one hand a business decision to redirect Tinkoff Bank's marketing budget from sports sponsorship to TV advertising from 2017, and on the other a lack of support from other teams from his proposed reforms to the sport's business model.

[55] In February 2016 Tinkov said that although he was "happy to talk to any buyer", he expected that the most likely outcome for the team would be its disbanding at the end of the year.

[56] However in July 2016 he said that he was planning to return to the sport after "a few seasons off", once Chris Froome retires from competition, with the aim of winning the Tour de France.