Officials at the Tour de France summarily decapitated the Tour de France leader Michael Rasmussen, from the race late Wednesday. From the International Herald Tribune:
Insisting that "doping is the enemy, not cycling" and that "things are changing" for the better, the organizers of the Tour de France hailed the ouster of Michael Rasmussen from the race on Thursday.
Rasmussen, a 33-year-old Dane, was expelled by his Rabobank team late Wednesday for lying about his whereabouts to avoid drug tests before the Tour started July 7.
Instead of being in Mexico, as he repeatedly said, he was seen training in Italy. That unraveled his weeklong defense that he had evaded the unscheduled tests by mistake, not by design.
Rasmussen's ouster capped a tumultuous 24 hours which saw a bomb go off along the Tour course in Spain (Sydney Morning Herald).
Two small bombs claimed by the Basque separatist group ETA exploded Wednesday along a Spanish section of the Tour de France, ETA's first attack since ending a 15-month ceasefire in June. No one was hurt and the incident failed to disrupt the cycle race.
SI.com reports a French newspaper called for canceling the Tour de Farce:
One French newspaper ran a mock obituary for the scandal-tainted Tour de France. Another said the race had become a joke and should be canceled.
France reeled Thursday from the news that race leader Michael Rasmussen had been ousted by his team for lying about his whereabouts during pre-race training, the third blow this week to the venerable 104-year-old Tour. In recent days, two riders _ including star Alexandre Vinokourov -- were thrown out because of positive drug tests.
France Soir newspaper ran a mock death notice for the Tour de France on its cover. It said the Tour died Thursday "at age 104, after a long illness."
Mock obituary? Wow!
Officials of the Tour commented on Rasmussen's extirpation:
At a news conference before the start of the 17th stage, Christian Prudhomme, the race director, said, "What happened yesterday is probably the best thing that has happened in the last eight days."
He referred to the time since the Rasmussen dispute became public and embroiled the race in controversy over its leader.
Patrice Clerc, the chairman of the Tour's owners, said that no yellow jersey would be worn by any rider during Thursday's stage but that it would be awarded at the end of the day.
"Rasmussen lied to avoid tests," Clerc said. "Therefore he cannot remain in the race. It proves that he should not have started the Tour de France."
Just when it looks like the situation could not get worse, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) piled on the Tour, calling for a world summit on doping (The Gazette):
World anti-doping body, WADA, on Thursday upped the stakes in the Tour de France's battle to save its damaged credibility by calling for a high-level summit to discuss the doping crisis.
WADA president Dick Pound admitted he was concerned by developments in the Tour this week which have seen yellow jersey Michael Rasmussen axed from the race and long-time favourite Alexandre Vinokourov fail a test for blood doping.
Now, WADA have offered to convene a high-level summit of all parties involved in cycling to have an in-depth discussion on how to deal with the problem of doping in the sport.
The Dour de France is clearly in free-fall. Perhaps WADA is correct in asking for some kind of summit on this mess. Pro cycling appears to be incorrigibly addicted to PEDs.
caoch northwestern shot
Comments