Christophe Bassons, a champion in the fight against doping following his experiences in the sport, explained just how much pressure was put on him to take part in the activity.
The Frenchman, in a conversation with sueddeutsche.de, says he was offered two contracts during negotiations.
One was based on if he raced clean, while the other included a salary that was 10 times greater, if he doped.
"I spent years without talking to anyone in the peloton, not even among those who were my teammates," said Bassons.
"They even offered me 40,000 euros a month if I doped with EPO, 10 times more than what I was earning, but they didn't succeed."
He says prostitutes were even sent to his room in order to convince him to change his mind.
"They brought me women to the hotel so that I would cheat on my wife," he said.
"They tried to make me do forbidden things, but I never gave in. They tried to charge me but they couldn't catch me in anything."
The worst thing is that, according to Bassons, things haven't changed all that much in cycling.
"Everyone is still living a big lie," said Bassons.
"Nowadays medical support is much more extensive, so you can ride almost at the same level as doped people.
"But this medical support scares me almost more than doping,
"Between a small therapeutic dose of EPO or 20 to 30 tablets a day to race a Tour de France, think about which of these is more dangerous.
"Cycling would gain enormous credibility if riders would say exactly what they put in their bodies at what time each day."
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