Former Rabobank standout and Tour de France yellow jersey wearer says comments to Danish newspaper were misunderstood.

Michael Rasmussen said Tuesday he was misunderstood when he told a Danish newspaper that he wished some people dead after he was banned from cycling in 2007 amid doping suspicions.

The Danish cyclist said he never wished harm on anyone but was trying to explain his negative thoughts in an interview with Danish newspaper Weekendavisen last week.

Rasmussen led the 2007 Tour de France when he was kicked off his Rabobank team for lying about his whereabouts and missing doping tests.

He later admitted that he lied and was banned from cycling for two years, but has insisted he didn't break any rules and never tested positive for any drugs.

"There are certainly some people who, if they died, I would live happier," Rasmussen said in Friday's Weekendavisen. He further stated that "If they suffered a great deal and died, I would feel better. It can be a sick thought to have and perhaps even more sick to say out loud, but it is the truth."

Rasmussen, who returned to cycling with the unheralded Miche Silver Cross Team in January, didn't give any names, but Danish media speculated he was referring to cycling officials.

On Tuesday, Rasmussen said he wasn't referring to anyone in particular.

"I explained in an interview in the Danish newspaper, Weekendavisen, about the irrational feelings that characterize you as a man, when you are (struck) by heavy grief and anger," Rasmussen said. "In that context, I described that you in a fully abstract way may have very negative feelings towards the resistance you are met with."