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Cycling - Tour de France
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Italian Ricco admits doping 'mistake'
(AP photo/Plinio Lepri)

ROME (AP) Italian cyclist Riccardo Ricco admitted Wednesday that he made a "mistake," taking responsibility after testing positive for the blood-booster EPO during the Tour de France.

Ricco appeared before the Italian Olympic Committee's anti-doping prosecutor Ettore Torri.

"What I did during the Tour is done. I made a mistake and the mistake is only mine," Ricco said after the hearing behind closed doors in Rome.

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Tour's Evans out of Olympic time trial

SYDNEY, Australia (AP) Tour de France runner-up Cadel Evans withdrew from the Olympic Games road time trial on Thursday due to a knee injury.

Evans told reporters he will undergo treatment this week before deciding whether he will travel to Beijing to contest the road race. He will be replaced in the time trial by three-time world champion Michael Rogers. (MORE)

Sastre wins doping-marred Tour de France

PARIS (AP) Race director Christian Prudhomme proclaimed the 2008 Tour de France will eventually be seen as a victory against doping because cyclists were caught cheating.

However, even after some were snared, at least one other still tried to beat the system. (MORE)

Kazakh rider tests positive at Tour

PARIS (AP) Kazakh rider Dmitriy Fofonov has tested positive for a banned stimulant during the Tour de France.

The test result came to light Sunday minutes after Spain's Carlos Sastre won the race. (MORE)

Customs searches Schleck's parents' car

SAINT-ETIENNE, France (AP) French customs agents looking for doping products stopped, searched and released a car driven by the father of Tour de France riders Frank and Andy Schleck on Thursday, officials said.

The agents carried out the random search near the city of Grenoble along the route of the 18th stage and didn't find any doping products or other illegal products, a customs spokesman said. (MORE)

Italy's Cunego crashes during 18th stage

PARIS (AP) Damiano Cunego of Italy crashed Thursday during the 18th stage of the Tour de France, but got back on the bike after getting treatment for a cut on his chin.

Tour organizers said the Lampre team rider crashed early in the 122-mile trek from Bourg-d'Oisans to Saint-Etienne. Television images showed Cunego with a bandage attached to his chin. His jersey was ripped and torn. (MORE)

Astana, banned from Tour, fires Gusev

SAINT-AMAND-MONTROND, France (AP) The Astana cycling team, banned from this year's Tour de France, has fired Russian cyclist Vladimir Gusev because of irregular data that showed up in internal testing.

Astana boss Johan Bruyneel, who took over after eight straight Tour wins with Lance Armstrong and Alberto Contador at the U.S. Postal and Discovery teams, said the Kazakhstan-owned team had no option but to fire Gusev. (MORE)


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