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Leader Rasmussen Out of Tour De France
For those of you keeping score at home, that's three riders/teams dropping out or being pulled in three days. All of them big names in the cycling world.
Sad thing is Rasmussen was riding a nearly perfect technical race. He had this thing won, barring a crash or a truly spectacular flameout in the final stages. But because he couldn't follow his own team's rules, he is going to be recorded along with all the others who did not complete the tour. He'll get credit for the stage he won, and that's it. Wearing the yellow jersey for most of the tour doesn't matter.. it's wearing it as you ride down the Champs-Élysées with a glass of champagne in your hand.
The UCI needs to bring hellfire and brimstone down on the teams. It's pathetic. Blood doping has become an accepted part of the sport. Teams almost flaunt their ability to hide elevated blood counts, and court doctors who will provide the enhancements needed. We have just over a month until the Vuelta a España kicks off. Test everyone prior to the event. If there is any questionable activity by a team, ban them for a full year from UCI events. Let's not have another Grand Tour event more noted for who gets eliminated than for who wins.
Which, right now, looks to be a Spanish rider with Team Discovery. The irony is killing me.
Tour de France leader Michael Rasmussen was removed from the race by his team after winning Wednesday's stage, the biggest blow yet in cycling's doping-tainted premier event.
"Michael Rasmussen has been sent home for violating (the team's) internal rules," Rabobank team spokesman Jacob Bergsma told The Associated Press by phone.
The expulsion, which Bergsma said was ordered by the Dutch team sponsor, was linked to "incorrect" information that Rasmussen gave to the team's sports director over his whereabouts last month. Rasmussen missed random drug tests May 8 and June 28.
The 33-year-old rider, who won Wednesday's stage, had looked set to win the race, which ends Sunday in Paris. But Tour officials had questioned why he was allowed to take the start on July 7 in London, England.
"We cannot say that Rasmussen cheated, but his flippancy and his lies on his whereabouts had become unbearable," Tour director Christian Prudhomme told the AP.
For those of you keeping score at home, that's three riders/teams dropping out or being pulled in three days. All of them big names in the cycling world.
Sad thing is Rasmussen was riding a nearly perfect technical race. He had this thing won, barring a crash or a truly spectacular flameout in the final stages. But because he couldn't follow his own team's rules, he is going to be recorded along with all the others who did not complete the tour. He'll get credit for the stage he won, and that's it. Wearing the yellow jersey for most of the tour doesn't matter.. it's wearing it as you ride down the Champs-Élysées with a glass of champagne in your hand.
The UCI needs to bring hellfire and brimstone down on the teams. It's pathetic. Blood doping has become an accepted part of the sport. Teams almost flaunt their ability to hide elevated blood counts, and court doctors who will provide the enhancements needed. We have just over a month until the Vuelta a España kicks off. Test everyone prior to the event. If there is any questionable activity by a team, ban them for a full year from UCI events. Let's not have another Grand Tour event more noted for who gets eliminated than for who wins.
Which, right now, looks to be a Spanish rider with Team Discovery. The irony is killing me.
