Riis agrees with report about drugs on cycling team

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) Former manager Bjarne Riis said Friday he agrees with a report by Denmark's anti-doping agency that concluded he deliberately ignored drug-taking by riders on the former Team CSC.

''The bottom line unfortunately is that the conclusion of the reports is correct. There is no doubt about that. I have not lived up to my responsibility,'' Riis said in a statement.

''When I then had a feeling that a rider was heading in the wrong direction, I was not always quick enough to indicate that (the rider's) behavior was not acceptable.''

He told Denmark(hash)s TV2 channel that he ''was not mature enough to take the responsibility'' as manager of one of cycling's top teams, adding ''my credibility is not very big.''

Riis said he made the statement ''because I have a need to express regret for my mistakes and put an end to it all.''

Denmark's anti-doping agency said on Tuesday that Riis had ''a greater responsibility'' as a top manager who could suspend doping users and report them to the anti-doping authorities. Riis said he himself had been interviewed by Anti-Doping Denmark for the report.

Riis is currently unemployed after Russian billionaire Oleg Tinkov - who now owns the cycling squad created by Riis, Team Tinkoff-Saxo - terminated his contract in March.

Riis himself has admitted using EPO to win the Tour de France in 1996.