Danish Olympic cyclist tests positive for EPO

Danish mountain bike champion Peter Riis Andersen has been barred from the Beijing Olympics after testing positive for EPO, Denmark's Olympic committee said Monday.

Riis Andersen admitted at a televised news conference in Copenhagen that he had taken the banned blood booster and said he would quit professional cycling.

"I am sorry for what I have done,'' the 28-year-old rider said, wiping away tears. "Until Tuesday last week, I had the idea that I had done nothing wrong. I (then) realized how gross a violation it was.''

Riis-Andersen tested positive after a pre-Olympic doping control on June 25, the Danish Olympic committee said. His German mountain bike team, Alb-Gold, said it had fired the rider after both the "A'' and "B'' samples confirmed that he had used EPO.

"I got it through criminal channels because this cannot be provided legally without a receipt,'' Riis Andersen told reporters. "I joined the club of sinners.''

He said he had turned to doping because of "bad results in the early season this year.''

"I was scared that I would be knocked off the (Olympics) team although there was not immediate danger it would happen,'' he said.

It's the first known doping case involving the Danish Olympic team but only the latest in a string of scandals for Danish cycling.

In last year's Tour de France, race leader Michael Rasmussen was kicked out just days before the end for lying about his whereabouts to avoid pre-Tour doping tests. He has maintained he raced clean and never tested positive.

Also last year, former cyclist Bjarne Riis, who is not related to Riis Andersen, admitted that he used EPO to win the 1996 Tour.

"Of course we regret this situation,'' Tom Lund, president of the Danish Cyclist Union, said of Riis Andersen's announcement. "However, it is a big help that Peter steps forward and tells what he has done.''

The 28-year-old Riis Andersen, who also is a medical student, won the Danish mountain bike championships on July 20 for the second consecutive time.

He competed at the 2004 Athens Olympics, finishing 18th. His goal was to finish in the top 10 in Beijing, according to the Danish Olympic committee Web site.

Riis Andersen was one of 16 Danish cyclists who qualified for the Beijing Games. After his departure, the Danish Olympic team consists of 83 athletes competing in 16 disciplines at the Aug. 8-24 games.

Riis Andersen said his professional cycling career was over.

"I cannot imagine that I will come back,'' he said.