After one of his riders, Lloyd Mondory, tested positive for EPO, AG2R manager Vincent Lavenu has described himself as “ashamed”, after Mondory’s test was their third positive in just over two years.

Steve Houanard tested positive for EPO at the tail end of the 2012 season and Sylvain Georges tested positive for the stimulant heptimanol at the 2013 Giro d’Italia, prompting the team to suspend itself from the Critérium du Dauphiné, according to Movement for Credible Cycling regulations.

Mondory’s test came on February 17, a few days after coming seventh in the Clasica de Almeria. Lavenus spoke to the press after yesterday’s Paris-Nice stage.

“I’m ashamed and these tears aren’t going to change anything about it,” Lavenu said, according to RMC. “I think that I’m not capable of doing this job anymore, in these conditions. It’s too hard, there’s too much work, too much commitment. Cycling is my life.”

“We’re betrayed too much. This is the third French rider in three years who has acted the idiot, it’s appalling. It’s a mixture of shame, betrayal and discouragement,” he said. “The team is going to be sullied, and the riders too. That’s not right considering everything that’s been done.”

While 32-year-old Mondory has the right to request his B sample, Lavenu was adamant that he should not lie and own up to what he has done.

“I hope that he’ll have the courage to tell the truth and that he won’t hide behind ‘No, I don’t know, I didn’t take it,’” Lavenu said. “It can’t happen like that, it’s not possible. It’s 12 years that he’s been with us, this boy.”