Michael Rasmussen claims to have attempted to dope with his father's blood in 2003 but when tests showed that they were not compatible, he shelved the idea. He also claims to have considered suicide after being ejected from the 2007 Tour de France.

This past week, Michael Rasmussen's revelations and accusations in his book Yellow Fever have rocked the cycling world and now the Dane has revealed more details from his dark past. In an interview with Danish television DR, he reveals that he attempted to dope with his father's blood in 2003.

Rasmussen had joined the Rabobank team prior to the season and while riding the Vuelta a Espana - where he finished 7th and won a stage - he learned about blood doping.

 “In the Tour of Spain in 2003, I discovered that there was someone who was blood doping,” he said in an interview. “I had never done it before, so I spoke with the team doctor at Rabobank about it."

That doctor was Geert Leinders who has been heavily accused of doping practices while working for the Dutch team. He worked for Team Sky from 2010 to 2012 until getting sacked when he got accused of illegal practices.

At the time, there was no test for homologous blood transfusions which uses somebody else's blood. Rasmussen claims that Leinders told him that he could use the method without any kind of risk.

“[Leinders] had done it earlier with two brothers who were compatible,” Rasmussen explained. “And if the blood was compatible, it was like mixing water with water, so there was no risk to health. He told me that I should see if I could get someone to agree to it, so I took courage and asked my dad.”

Tests revealed that his father's blood wasn't suitable for a transfusion and so Rasmussen had to shelve the idea. “But if it had been compatible, we might have done it,” he added.

Rasmussen also claims to have considered suicide when Rabobank decided to take him out of the Tour de France. Just a few hours after winning the queen stage on the Col d'Aubisque and virtually sealing the Tour de France win, he was told to leave the race for lying about his whereabouts prior to the event.

“I am looking all around my hotel room,” Rasmussen said. “Checking out every window and curtain rod to find a rope, so I can hang myself.”

With no rope at his hand, he considered taking a team car and driving it head on into a truck.

“I was just a shirt, not a human, and there was no one really thought that this could have had fatal consequences for me,” he said. “It was totally surreal, and I was so impotent that I wondered how I should take my own life. It was the only way I could see to go.”

The entire interview will be aired on DR1 tonight.