PARIS – Third-place Tour de France finisher Bernhard Kohl tested positive for a banned blood booster when his race samples were checked for the new drug.

French anti-doping agency director Pierre Bordry told The Associated Press on Monday that he told Austrian anti-doping authorities, who confirmed the doping case.

The Austrian cyclist is the fourth rider to be caught using CERA, an advanced version of EPO.

Bordry would not say whether tests are completed on samples from other riders, leaving open the possibility of more positive results. The International Olympic Committee also plans to retest Beijing Games' samples to search for CERA.

The new blood tests for CERA also exposed Kohl's teammate at Gerolsteiner, Stefan Schumacher, and Italian cyclists Riccardo Ricco and Leonardo Piepoli.

Ricco was banned for two years earlier this month by the Italian Olympic committee after admitting to doping during the Tour.

According to documents released Monday by the Italian Olympic Committee, Ricco injected himself with CERA the day before the start of the Tour and had been in contact since 2007 with Carlo Santuccione, a physician banned for life for doping violations.

Ricco met on June 8 with Santuccione, who told him to take CERA the day before the Tour, saying it could not be traced in anti-doping tests and the effects would kick in a week later, according to the documents.

The Italian cyclist first was introduced to Santuccione by former team director Daniele Tortoli, the documents show.

Ricco won the Tour's sixth and ninth stages in spectacular fashion – the second victory coming with a long solo breakaway on one of the race's toughest mountain stages, then tested positive July 17.

Kohl, the Tour's best rider in the mountains, finished third behind Carlos Sastre and Cadel Evans in the second-tightest podium finish in the 105-year-old race.

Kohl risks a two-year suspension and could lose his podium spot to fourth-place Denis Menchov of Russia.