British cyclist David Millar said intense pressure to perform led him to try EPO as he testified Tuesday in a doping trial of seven current or former riders with the Cofidis team.

On the second day of the trial, Millar said he felt responsible for the team's performance because he was its leader at the time.

“When I saw that when I was bad, the team was terrible, I had the responsibility to become a 'real professional,'” said Millar, referring to using performance-enhancing drugs.

Millar described a trip to Italy in 2001 to stay with teammate Massimiliano Lelli. Millar said he learned there how to inject EPO through his shoulder, but added that the decision to start doping was "not an easy one."

"I took drugs because it was my job to get good results," Millar told the court.

Millar, however, was caught with empty EPO vials in his home during a police raid on his home. The Scottish rider was banned for two years and stripped of his 2003 world time-trial title after admitting to a French judge that he used EPO. He has admitted to using EPO three times: once in 2001 and twice in 2003 - including at the 2003 Tour de France.

Millar is on trial with nine others. The seven cyclists are charged with “acquiring and possessing banned substances.” The other three defendants - a cycling technician, a pharmacist and a former Cofidis trainer - are accused of supplying them with the drugs.

The trial is expected to last a week. The defendants each face up to five years in prison and fines of 75,000 euros ($95,200) if convicted. Most observers, however, predict that riders who cooperate in the trial will likely receive suspended sentences.