Cycling: Danish Olympian admits to doping

COPENHAGEN: Rolf Soerensen, one of Denmark’s most successful professional cyclists, admitted to using blood-boosting EPO and cortisone in the 1990s, ending more than a year of denials. “I used EPO periodically in the 90s,” said Soerensen. “I have also in some cases used the substance cortisone. There is no other excuse than that I did what I felt compelled to do to be an equal among peers.” Sorensen, who won two stages of the Tour de France in 1994 and 1996, refused to identify other riders who used performance-enhancing drugs. “There will not be any names here. No allegations against other named individuals. It’s not my style. The only thing I will say is that I was not alone in it.” 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.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 20^th, 2013.