Italian rider Emanuele Sella admitted to doping Friday at a hearing before the Italian Olympic Committee after failing an out-of-competition drugs test last month, dpa reported.
Sella, 27, who won three stages of this year's Giro d'Italia, tested positive last month for the blood-booster EPO following a test ordered by the International Cycling Union, Italian media reported.
Eriberto Rosso, the rider's lawyer, said in a statement that Sella "confessed to having had access to a banned drug and he explained the context in which he received the substance."
Sella told Gazzetta dello Sport after the hearing: "I have got a weight off my shoulders. I'm conscious of what I did and as a result I decided to cooperate."