THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Michael Rasmussen was on the verge of suicide after he was ejected from the Tour de France for lying about his whereabouts before the race, the Danish cyclist was quoted as saying in an interview with a Dutch newspaper.
Rasmussen wore the leader’s yellow jersey and had just won the 16th stage when he was kicked out of cycling’s showcase event July 25.
Describing the hours after his ouster, Rasmussen told Dutch daily De Telegraaf in an interview for its weekend editions that he cried continually while being driven away from the race.
"On the other side of the road, trucks kept passing us. It would have been easy to grab the steering wheel," he reportedly said. "Then this terrible nightmare would have been over."
Later, sitting in a hotel room with Rabobank teammate Erik Dekker, Rasmussen said he again thought of taking his own life.
"Five hours after I stood on the podium, I was sitting alone. My whole world had collapsed," Rasmussen said. "Luckily I couldn’t find a rope in the room, otherwise I would not be here now."
Rasmussen admitted last month he lied to the International Cycling Union about where he was before the Tour de France. He missed random doping tests in May and June, saying he had been in Mexico, but acknowledged Thursday that he was actually in France and Italy at the time. Rasmussen cited "marital reasons" for lying, but declined to elaborate.
In the Telegraaf interview, Rasmussen again refused to elaborate on what he called a "serious private matter."
An independent report commissioned by the Rabobank team — which fired Rasmussen for lying — dismissed the excuse last month, saying Rasmussen "deliberately provided incorrect whereabouts information on multiple occasions" to avoid doping checks.