"I have never taken banned substances and I have never employed blood doping," said Basso in an emotional statement before a press conference he had called.
"I did admit having attempted to use doping for the (2006) Tour de France and I am ready to pay the penalty for that.
"All my wins have been achieved in a proper and clean manner and I have every intention of returning to action and continuing with the job I love once I have paid the penalty," added last year's Tour of Italy winner.
The 29-year-old Basso, one of the favourites for this year's Tour de France, was among dozens of riders implicated in the Operation Puerto doping affair that erupted before last year's Tour when Spanish police uncovered an alleged blood doping network run by doctor Eufemiano Fuentes.
During a raid on Fuentes's laboratory in Madrid, police discovered bags of blood and doping products, along with codenames of cyclists and documents which suggested the doctor had been paid to manipulate and store blood.
Tour de France marred
The 2006 Tour was deprived of its top names such as Basso and Germany's Jan Ullrich who were barred from competing after being implicated in the Puerto affair.
Tour organisers have been piling the pressure on cycling authorities this year to act against implicated riders to try to avoid a repeat of last year's fiasco in the Tour, which begins in July.
Basso had always denied any wrongdoing, but last week he parted company with the Discovery Channel team after CONI had recalled him to a second hearing to answer doping charges.
He was initially acquitted by CONI of any involvement in the scandal after the first hearing due to what Italy's governing body for sport described as insufficient evidence, but CONI reopened their investigation after finding new evidence, believed to be blood samples and text messages between Basso and Fuentes.
Moments of weakness
Basso, with lawyer Massimo Martelli at his side, admitted that he had had dealings with Fuentes calling them "moments of weakness which will stay with me for the rest of my life and for which I intend to pay the price."
"I am fully aware that an attempt at doping is tantamount to doping, but I am asking to be excused for this and that should be enough," Basso said.
"All my victories were obtained in an honest manner and nobody can contest what I achieved in the 2006 Tour of Italy no more than the other results I achieved during my career."