BERLIN (Reuters) - German rider Grischa Niermann, who rode for the Rabobank team for 12 years, has admitted using banned substances to boost his performance, the Dutch cycling federation said on Monday.

"Thanks to the people around me I realized in 2003 that banned substances was not the path I wanted to follow. I will give anti-doping bodies and relevant commissions all further information," Niermann was quoted as saying on the federation website (www.knwu.nl).

The federation said the rider, who retired last year, admitted to using EPO "several times" between 2000-2003.

Cycling has long battled a doping problem and this month American Lance Armstrong admitted to doping in all of his seven Tour de France victories after the International Cycling Union (UCI) stripped him of his titles last year.

(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann, editing by Mark Meadows)