Riis evicted from Danish sports hall of fame
By Agence France Presse
This report filed May 31, 2007
Former Tour de France winner Bjarne Riis of Denmark has been removed from the Danish sports hall of fame, Danmarks Radio (DR) said Thursday.
The 43-year-old Riis, now the owner and manager of the CSC team, ended years of speculation over his involvement in doping recently by admitting he had used the banned blood booster EPO (erythropoietin) between 1993 and 1998 while racing with Telekom.
"I took banned substances, I took EPO," Riis said at a press conference in Lyngby in Denmark. "I bought them myself and took them of my own accord."
World cycling chiefs have since demanded he return the yellow jersey he won in 1996, and Tour race director Christian Prudhomme called on him to pull out of this year's race.
"Bjarne Riis has admitted to being doped. We therefore consider that his performance was faked. And for that reason he cannot be among the greatest sportsmen," said Sporten Else Trangbaek, president of the commission that elects sports stars to the list.
The list, established by the government, includes stars such as former footballer Michael Laudrup, Kenyan-born 800m world record-holder Wilson Kipketer and rower Paul Elvstroem.