RICCO ADMITS TAKING EPO BEFORE TOUR DE FRANCE

Riccardo Ricco has admitted taking EPO before the Tour de France.

Speaking after being questioned by the Italian Olympic Committee's anti-doping investigators in Rome, Ricco told reporters; ?I?ve admitted my responsibility, it's all my own fault and I?ve decided not ask for the counter-analysis because there's no need."

Ricco tested positive for the new third generation of EPO at the Tour de France after the stage 4 time trial around Cholet. He claims he was clean during the Giro d?Italia in May but took the blood boosting drug because he was tired.

?I was tired after the Giro d?Italia mentally and physically. I took it but it was a childish mistake. At the Giro I was clean, then the Wednesday before leaving? I can?t say where I got it from because there?s a legal procedure underway.?

?I think I?ve done the right thing by admitting my mistake. I haven?t asked for clemency, I had a weight on my mind and wanted to get rid of it. At the moment my thoughts are for the staff of the team and my team mates who have lost their jobs because of me.?

Ricco risks a two-year ban for doping but that could be reduced by as much as a year if he reveals who supplied him with the drug.

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