LAVELANET, France — The Saunier-Duval team withdrew from the Tour de France and suspended all of its activities Thursday after rider Riccardo Ricco tested positive for the banned blood-booster EPO.

Ricco, a 24-year-old Italian who won two Tour stages this year, tested positive for the performance enhancer after the fourth stage, a time trial in the western town of Cholet. It was the third positive EPO test on the Tour this year.

Pierre Bordry, the head of the French anti-doping agency, announced the result, leading to the team's withdrawal shortly before the start of the 12th stage — a 104.7-mile run from Lavelanet to Narbonne.

"It's a team decision not to start the race," Saunier Duval sporting director Matxin Fernandez said. "He's our leader, we can't act as if nothing happened.

"We suspend the activities of the team until we know what happened," Fernandez added.

Ricco was taken off the Saunier-Duval team bus by police ahead of the stage and booed by spectators.

Ricco was the runner-up in the Giro d'Italia and is the biggest name among three cyclists involved in doping cases at this year's Tour. He won the sixth and ninth stages and was ninth overall before the start of Thursday's stage — 2 minutes, 29 seconds behind race leader Cadel Evans of Australia.

Spanish veteran Manuel Beltran — a former teammate of seven-time Tour champion Lance Armstrong — was sent home for testing positive for EPO after the first stage this year. Another Spaniard, Moises Duenas Nevado, was detained by police and suspended by his Barloworld team Wednesday after testing positive for EPO.

Ricco had come under suspicion about what he says is his naturally high hematocrit level — the volume of red blood cells. High hematocrit levels can suggest use of EPO, but do not confirm it.

Following his victory in the ninth stage, Ricco said he has had high hematocrit levels "ever since I was little," adding "I hope soon that everybody will stop speaking about that."

Reached by telephone, the Italian cycling federation said it was waiting for details of Ricco's test before commenting.

Ricco's popularity in Italy rocketed with his two Tour stage wins, even gaining front-page coverage in the football-focused Gazzetta dello Sport.

The rider has said his idol was Marco Pantani — the last Italian to win the Tour, in 1998. Pantani faced doping allegations throughout his career. He died of a cocaine overdose on Valentine's Day in 2004.

Some riders expressed dismay at the revelation.

"It's just amazing. It's irresponsible," British cyclist David Millar said. "This guy does not have any love or care for the sport.

"The unfortunate is that we are learning that things that look too good to be true are too good to be true," Millar added.

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AP Sports Writers Andrew Dampf in Rome and Jerome Pugmire in Lavelanet contributed to this report.