It is hard to know how to respond to this, and Zabel's confessions.
Nobody is really suprised, and may the first step towards cleaning up
the sport is a bit on honesty. A bit of truth and reconcillation
about the past before we can more forward. all the same, Riis was
prepared to cheat to win, and when the chips are down would he help
his riders to do the same? Can the leopard change its.....
--- In roadracingukandireland@yahoogroups.com, "SueW"
<gswidemark@...> wrote:
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> http://www.kotv.com/sports/local/story/?id=128168
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> COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) _ Bjarne Riis became the first Tour de
France winner to admit using performance-enhancing drugs to win the
sport's premier race, further eroding cycling's credibility after a
series of doping confessions.
>
> His admission Friday means the top three finishers in the 1996 Tour
have all been linked to doping _ and two have admitted cheating.
>
> The retired Dane said he used the blood-booster EPO from 1993 to
1998, including during his 1996 Tour victory, confirming years of
speculation that he benefited from banned substances. He also
admitted taking cortisone and human growth hormone, but didn't say
when.
>
> ``I have taken doping. I have taken EPO,'' Riis said at a televised
news conference. ``I have made errors and I would like to
apologize.''
>
> EPO _ or erythropoietin _ is a synthetic hormone that stimulates
the production of oxygen-carrying red blood cells.
>
> Riis said he no longer considered himself a worthy winner of the
Tour, and indicated he would be willing to give back the title.
>
> ``My jersey is at home in a cardboard box,'' said Riis, now manager
of the Danish team CSC. ``They are welcome to come and get it. I have
my memories for myself.''
>
> Cycling's governing body said even though time limits for
sanctioning Riis have expired, it ``urges the former rider to return
his yellow jersey, the symbol of his victory.''
>
> Tour director Christian Prudhomme used even stronger words:
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> ``Bjarne Riis said himself that he is did not deserve to have won
the Tour in 1996 because he cheated. I think the same thing, because
he has soiled the yellow jersey,'' Prudhomme told The Associated
Press when reached by telephone. ``Seeing as he did not deserve to
win, does he deserve to lead a major cycling team?''
>
> Riis' confession comes while 2006 Tour winner Floyd Landis tries
desperately to keep his jersey and awaits a ruling in his doping
case.
>
> Landis tested positive for synthetic testosterone and could be
stripped of his title and banned for two years if found guilty. An
arbitration panel considered his case in a nine-day hearing that
ended this week. Prudhomme already said he didn't consider Landis to
be last year's winner.
>
> The runner-up to Riis in the 1996 race was Germany's Jan Ullrich
and Frenchman Richard Virenque was third.
>
> Ullrich retired in February after being implicated in Operation
Puerto, the Spanish investigation into an alleged blood doping ring.
Last month, German authorities matched Ullrich's DNA sample to blood
bags seized in Spain. He has always denied doping.
>
> Virenque was kicked out of the 1998 Tour de France because of his
involvement in the Festina scandal. His Festina team was ejected from
the Tour after customs officers found a large stash of performance-
enhancing drugs in a team car.
>
> After denying doping, Virenque later admitted to it in a tearful
court confession.
>
> Riis' admission was the latest in a string of doping confessions
from prominent cyclists, and caused the Danish government to strongly
condemn Riis _ once seen as a national hero as the only Dane to win
the Tour.
>
> Three-time Tour winner Greg LeMond said in a statement released by
his attorne: ``I never thought I'd see the day that this would
happen. Mr. Riis' decision is courageous, and I hope other cyclists
will follow suit.''
>
> ``He has behaved unethically and immorally,'' said Danish Culture
Minister Brian Mikkelsen, whose department oversees sports. ``It is
totally despicable.''
>
> Riis' confession came on the same day the Italian Olympic Committee
prosecutors recommended that 2006 Giro d'Italia cycling champion Ivan
Basso be banned for 21 months for his involvement in the Spanish
doping scandal Operation Puerto.
>
> Basso was suspended by the Italian cycling federation last week,
after acknowledging involvement in the Spanish blood-doping
investigation. He confessed to ``attempted doping'' but said he never
actually went through with it.
>
> On Thursday, Eric Zabel and Rolf Aldag, two Germans who were
support riders for Riis on the Telekom team, admitted using EPO while
riding for the team in the 1990s.
>
> Even German Chancellor Angela Merkel weighed in on the sport's
future, urging cyclists who used doping to come clean and break a
``cartel of silence.''
>
> ``The confessions and investigations so far are not sufficient to
sort things out,'' Merkel said.
>
> Riis' CSC team recently launched what it described as the most
rigorous anti-doping program in cycling. He said he planned to remain
with the team, adding that he hoped his confession would allow riders
to focus on the future.
>
> CSC spokesman Ole Egeblad said the main team sponsor was
``surprised'' by Riis' admission, and would talk to team officials
before deciding whether to continue its support.
>
> Until now, Riis has repeatedly denied taking performance enhancing
drugs during his 14-year career as a professional cyclist. In 2000,
he quit professional cycling under doctors' orders because of a knee
injury.
>
> Former Telekom massage therapist Jef d'Hont said in a book that two
doctors gave EPO to some of the team's top riders, including Riis and
Ullrich, who won the Tour de France in 1997.
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