Former Danish champion cyclist Nicki Sorensen admits doping past

Former Danish champion road cyclist and Tour de France rider Nicki Sorensen has admitted doping during the early part of his career.

The admission comes a day ahead of the release of a report into doping in Danish cycling between 1998 and 2015 by Anti-Doping Denmark (ADD) and the Sports Confederation of Denmark (DIF) following a three-year investigation.

Sorensen, a four-time Danish national road race champion between 2003 and 2011, retired last year but remained with the Tinkoff-Saxo team as their sporting director.             

"I've doped, I've admitted that fully and wholly. I'm saddened by it and I wish I could go back and undo it," Sorensen told the Danish daily BT on Monday.            

"It was in the early years of my career and it's more than 10 years behind me. It was my own decision to do it."

Sorensen denied that his former team boss Bjarne Riis, the 1996 Tour de France champion, was involved in encouraging him to dope in any way.             

The ADD report has already been criticised prior to its release by Danish rider Michael Rasmussen who said testimony regarding Sorensen's doping had been omitted in an effort to protect him.   

Rasmussen claims the ADD attempted to selectively edit parts of his testimony and sent him a letter requesting that he sign a new version of the report, while destroying the copy of the old report which he had signed in April.

“It is very clear from the text that was sent to me that they would push me into silence and I had to destroy the documents I had received. It is quite unequivocal,” Rasmussen told Ekstra Bladet.

“I have declared myself ready to tell the truth, and I have signed that I will speak the truth. I have not signed that I will conceal the truth.”