AG2R-La Mondiale rider Jean-Christophe Peraud, who finished second in the 2014 Tour de France, says that claims he cheated earlier in his career have driven him to the success he has found near the end of it.

Péraud’s story is recounted in Pierre Carrey’s book “New cycle, confidences of three modern racers,” which follows the career of three French heroes of the 2014 Tour — Péraud, Thibaut Pinot (FDJ.fr), and Romain Bardet (Ag2r La Mondiale).

“Aged 20 I nearly stopped cycling,” recounted Péraud, who explained how a French cycling federation test before a mountain bike competition had revealed he had a hematocrit level higher than the 50 percent threshold allowed.

“You cheated, obviously cheated,” he was told by a French federation official. But Peraud was never suspended and he was able to prove that his levels were naturally high rather than high due to doping.

“I was regularly between 48 and 50 percent when resting. And since I’ve adapted my body to training and road race competitions, I’ve come down to around 45-47 percent,” he explained.

“This was the trigger for my career. I thought, ‘You think I cheat, then you’ll see what I can do without cheating?’

“I went from eight hours to 12 hours training per week, I lost 3kg (6.9 pounds). That season, I finished for the first time in the top 10 in the Roc d’Azur [mountain bike race].”

Before his road racing career, Peraud finished second in the 2008 Olympics mountain bike race.