Doping cloud gathers over cyclist Millar

Cyclist David Millar, one of Britain’s best hopes for an Olympic medal this summer, could be prevented from competing in Athens after he was reported to have admitted taking EPO.

The time-trial world champion was formally placed under investigation for possession of banned substances yesterday after a two-hour interview with the magistrate examining wider doping allegations against Millar’s team, Cofidis.

He was released afterwards but his lawyer, Paul-Albert Iweins, said Millar had confessed to taking “three EPO cures of one week each in 2001 and 2003”.

EPO is a hormone which boosts the blood’s ability to carry oxygen and is useful in endurance events and training and is banned in Olympic sports.

Under International Cycling Union (UCI) rules, admitting to using doping products amounts to the same as a failed drugs test, something which carries a two-year ban from all competition.