French cycling star Richard Virenque admitted to taking performance-enhancing drugs during the 1998 Tour de France and told a court Tuesday that doping was routine in preparing for the race. Did you take doping products? presiding judge Daniel Delegove asked the rider.

Yes, Virenque responded, in a shaky voice, adding that he took drugs to be part of the team. I was the black sheep. If I strayed from the flock, I was finished.

The confession marks a sharp turnaround from Virenque's earlier stance that he never had knowingly taken banned substances to improve his performance.

Virenque, 30, and his team were expelled from the 1998 Tour after a team masseur was caught with a stash of drugs and officials admitted to systematic doping. The scandal that ensued nearly wrecked the Tour de France and forced the sports world to take a hard look at the growing use of illegal substances by athletes.

In making this confession, you have grown in stature, Delegove told Virenque. You have dropped a defence that was bound to fail. You can now look at yourself in the mirror.

Uneasy and appearing confused as he spoke, Virenque said that taking drugs was a routine part of preparing for events.

We don't say doping. We say we're preparing for the race, Virenque said. To take drugs is to cheat. As long as the person doesn't test positive, they're not taking drugs.

Virenque's attorney, Eric Hemmerdinger, said his client's confession was evidence of great courage. He explained what happens in the highest level of cycling.

The trial is the culmination of what became one of sports most dramatic doping dramas, forcing soul-searching among athletes and officials worldwide and leading to tighter laws in France and elsewhere.

Virenque, who now rides for Italy's Polti team, is the only cyclist on trial. He is charged with complicity in facilitating and inciting the use of doping, but not with taking drugs. Virenque risks up to two years in prison.