Rolf Soerensen, one of Denmark's most successful professional cyclists, has admitted to using blood-boosting EPO and cortisone in the 1990s, ending more than a year of denials.
47-year-old Soerensen says he used EPO periodically in the 90s and have also in some cases used the substance cortisone.
He says there is no other excuse than that he did what he felt compelled to do to be an equal among peers.
Soerensen, who won two stages of the Tour de France in 1994 and 1996, refused to identify other riders who used performance-enhancing drugs.
A professional rider from 1986 through 2002, Soerensen won the Liege-Bastogne-Liege race in 1993 and the Tour of Flanders in 1997.
He won a silver medal in the road race at the 1996 Olympic Games, the first year professionals were allowed to compete, and came close to winning the overall World Cup title on two occasions with a second place overall result in 1997 and third in both 1989 and 1991.
