FORMER PRO SKIBBY ADMITS EPO USE IN BOOK

Former Danish professional Jesper Skibby has admitted he took EPO and other performance enhancing drugs during his professional career with the TVM team in the nineties.

Speaking as he launched his autobiography called ?Let me explain? in Denmark, 42 year-old Skibby admitted to Danish newspaper ?Ekstra Bladet? he first doped in 1991, when he took cortisone during the Ruta del Sol.

?I pulled down my shorts a bit. I stuck myself in my buttock and pushed the syringe to the bottom. It hurt a little, but otherwise there wasn't any pain,? he says in the book according to Ekstra Bladet and the Copenhagen Post.

?I first took EPO in 1993, with an injection a day combined with my training. Sometimes the effect was instant. I felt really strong and didn?t feel tired even after getting off the bike.?

Skibby is remembered for his extremely friendly nature. He won 24 races between 1986 and 2000, including a stage of the Tour de France in 1993. Many will remember the photographs of him being almost crushed by a car on the Koppenberg climb during the Tour of Flanders. In his book he refuses to name the doctors or team mates who helped him dope but uses his revelations to plug his book.

?I'm quite aware that because of this book, I might become a person non grata in the future,? he said.

?Some people might consider me weak because I?m stepping forward and revealing my mistakes. I?m not looking for revenge. I?m doing this for myself and so that young people don?t the make the same mistakes I made."