Zabel admits taking banned substances

Former T-Mobile cyclist Erik Zabel yesterday admitted to using the banned substance erythropoietin (EPO) at the Tour de France in 1996.

"In my case, I decided to use EPO shortly before the (1996 Tour de France)," Zabel, at times close to tears and with a trembling voice, told a televised news conference in Bonn.

"I lied and I'm sorry," the German said. "It was a one-off test and then at the end of the first week I stopped the test because I had substantial problems with side-effects."

T-Mobile's sporting director Rolf Aldag had earlier admitted to using EPO when he was a professional cyclist in the mid-1990s.

"Before the (Tour de France) in 1995 I began using EPO and continued using it," Aldag said at the same news conference.

The admissions by Zabel and Aldag come after two other ex-Team Telekom riders - Bert Dietz and Christian Henn - said this week they were part of a systematic doping regime on the team that won the Tour de France in 1996 (Bjarne Riis) and 1997 (Jan Ullrich).

Dietz told a German television station on Monday that Team Telekom carried out a systematic doping regime for its riders between 1994 and 1998.

The 38-year-old said team doctors from the University of Freiburg were fully involved in the process and sometimes administered injections.

After Dietz's confession, former team-mate Henn came forward on Tuesday and admitted he took part in the EPO doping system from 1995 to 1999. Henn has been sporting director at team Gerolsteiner since 2001.