Former pro cyclist Jan Koerts announced live on Dutch television Wednesday night that he used doping products during this career. "You come to a given point in your career where you have to decide," he said on the show De Avondetappe.
"Either you consider your career has failed or you participate in doping," he said. "I have participated. It was that or put an end to my career.
"If I could live with the lie?" he asked. "You go to the controls, which turn out negative, and then life goes on."
Koerts rode professionally from 1992 to 2005, riding for PDM, Festina, Palmans, Rabobank, Cologne, Farm Frites, Mercury, Domo, Bankgiroloterij, Chocolate Jacques and Cofidis. He won a stage in the Vuelta a España and was Dutch national champion in 2001. He retired because of injuries suffered in a crash in the Volta a Portugal in 2005. He tried to make a comeback this year.
