Italy's Riccardo Ricco said he has doubts about the validity of the test that detected the blood-boosting drug EPO in his system during the Tour de France. Ricco, runner-up in the Giro d'Italia and winner of two stages on the Tour, tested positive after the fourth stage of the race. He has denied any wrongdoing.
"It's necessary to wait for the counter-analysis, then see if the method they used to do the test is valid," the 24-year-old was quoted as saying in Sunday's La Gazzetta dello Sport.
"I don't think it's 100 percent certain." His Saunier Duval team pulled out of the Tour following the announcement by the French Anti-Doping Agency (AFLD) and sacked Ricco along with fellow Italian Leonardo Piepoli.
Ricco has returned to Italy after being interviewed by an investigating magistrate on Friday and spending Thursday night behind bars.
Under recent French legislation, a rider is liable under criminal law for using or possessing banned substances. "I wouldn't wish an experience like that even on a dog," he said. "Everything went through my head during the night in prison.
After touching the sky with a finger I found myself on the ground in an instant." Ricco is the third rider to test positive for EPO on the 2008 Tour after Spaniards Manuel Beltran and Moises Duenas Nevado.