I want to thank Bjarne Riis. Good on you for coming clean.
What shred of credibility remained about elite pro cycling has disappeared as 1996 Tour de France winner Bjarne Riis of Denmark on Friday became the first Tour winner to admit he used banned performance-enhancing drugs.
… Riis said in a news conference Friday he had taken the blood booster erythropoietin (EPO) from 1993 through 1998, including during his Tour victory. He also confessed to using human growth hormone and cortisone.
“The time has come to put the cards on the table,” Riis said. “I have done things I now regret and I wouldn’t do again. I have doped. I have taken EPO. For awhile it was part of my life.”
Riis, currently manager of the Danish CSC cycling team, expected to be stripped of his Tour de France title.
“My yellow jersey is in a box at home. You can come and collect it,” Riis said of the jersey worn by the Tour de France leader.
I’ll never watch race cycling again.
Rick McCharles 