Speaking with Cyclingnews at the start of his national book tour of his autobiography Battle Scars, Stuart O'Grady has elaborated on the doping past that forced him into retirement one year earlier than planned. Still claiming to have doped only once, he says that he has nothing to hide and that he just hoped that the truth would never come out.

All was set for a grand goodbye to Stuart O'Grady when shortly before last year's Tour de France he announced that he planned to continue for one more year, ending his career with a record 18th participation in the world's biggest bike race in 2014. Hence, it came as a surprise to many when the day after the 2013 edition of the race he suddenly announced his immediate retirement.

It later emerged that there was a good reason for his decision. A few days after his announcement, he admitted to having used EPO during the 1998 Tour de France and one day later the outcome of a French senate investigation revealed that the Australian had recorded a suspicious doping test.

"I had just turned pro in 1995 and only ridden my first Tour in 1997, and my next Tour I'm standing on top of the podium and then the Festina Affair happens," he said in an interview with Cyclingnews when asked about what had led him to the decision to dope.

O'Grady has always insisted that he only used EPO once and in a recent interview with Cyclingnews he reiterates that stance. He admits that he hoped that the truth would never come out.

"I just kind of buried it so far back in my mind because it was just one of those things that I hoped would never surface," he said. "It was the darkest period of my career. It was the darkest period of cycling in general. It was a really bad time."

The admission had put his later results that include a Paris-Roubaix win and an Olympic gold medal on the track under suspicion, but O'Grady continues to insist that he never again broke the rules.

"For me everything changed in 1998 with Festina," he said. "I saw guys handcuffed and being taken to jail and when guys start taken to prison over bike riding that's a pretty damn big wake-up call and that was all it took for me. I am sure quite a few riders changed their outlook after that. Unfortunately as we have seen, quite a few have not.

"That was enough for me. I am pretty sure my Olympic samples, as well as others, are stored away somewhere," concluded O'Grady on lingering doubts over his reported limited use of performance enhancing drugs. "So I say go for it and rip them open. I am not afraid, I've got nothing more to hide."

O'Grady says that he has only ridden his bike once since ending his career and that he is now just happy to be a normal husband and father.