Rasmussen out of the tour!!!

[hukkaloogey]

And from his boss in the same article, "He lied to me, that is the chief reason. There is no sign of him having been doped. It is simply a breach of trust." Yet Rasmussen denies being in Italy at the purported time, so it is not actually known whether he lied or not.

 

[Trajectum]

And from his boss in the same article, "He lied to me, that is the chief reason. There is no sign of him having been doped. It is simply a breach of trust." Yet Rasmussen denies being in Italy at the purported time, so it is not actually known whether he lied or not.

And Ras took a plaine to an unknown/undisclosed location. In any case he is consistent in his behavior I'd say

But on a more serious note. I hope he's doing well. Seeing your world being shattered like this can be enough to break any man. Luckily he has a wife and a small kid (I remember being seriously moved when I saw him celebrate taking the jersey after his long break with his hunky wife and little baby)

I know lots of people hate Rasmussen now. But apart from if he doped or not (and I'm pretty convinced he did dope in his preparation) he was an ultimate atllete. It is no joke and not exagerating to say the man was on his bike training for at least 7 hours a day. And training hard.. People speak as if he got everything for free. as if there was a cyborg riding. I say BULL. The man might have used Epo, steroid, and whatever more during his preparation for this tour.. but he also busted his ass of, just like he had always done

 

[Eilert Pilarm]

another black eye for Danish cycling

two in one year

Tusind Tak Bjarne og Kylling! ASSHATS!!

 

[plectrum]

Damn this Tour it has completely self destructed.

I feel quite sorry for Rasmussen as there is still no hard evidence that he has cheated.

If the standard now is to ban people by association then can ARMSTRONG please send all his jerseys back, oh by the way does Dr Ferrari/T.Rominger have any clean clients?

Contador-does any one remember Operation Puerto
Kloden-fellow member of Team T-Mobile or team T-Dirty doping cheats
Valverde-fellow cyclist claims that team doping was rife and Valverde was seen at dinner with testosterone patch

I'm sorry but this is all such BULL yes they are all on drugs but the Tour still goes ahead, the Vuelta will run in 2 months, the Giro will run again and the Tour will be back next year why because no one has the balls to deal with this problem.

Also could someone explain to me this:

If 50% + haemocrit is a sign of EPO or blood doping i.e. at this level the cyclist stands a significant chance of performing at a higher level than natural but also the tests look for > 50%, WHAT DIFFERENCE does doping make out of season?

Vino took a blood dope last week, if Rasmussen was doping he took either EPO or Blood Doping at the beginning of June and he is still kicking some serious ass in late July.

Don't forget that Vino at his legal best would generally beat Ras by up to 5 mins in a TT.

Last week only 1 day after blood doping Vino could only beat Ras by a few mins and Ras was also tested on this day and returned a negative.

This tour has descended into utter bull and to be honest from the start both UCI, ASO, Rabobank should have all stood firmly behind the man in yellow rather than ostracise him and his team.

A guy should only been treated guilty, WHEN and only WHEN he has failed through the current system in place.

If the system is not good enough then really it is tough sh*t you need to let people get away with it until the system is changed,

We in the west have a democratic and clear judiscial system and the action of forcing Ras out based on heresay, speculation and pressure is a disgrace.

If there is even 10% chance that he is innocent which I profess there certainly is then 'the powers that be' have DESTROYED a young man's life and career all because they had lost control of the beast that is now pro cycling.

 

[Gregers]

Cycling's limitless capacity for ritual disembowelment is just staggering. Either party in this matter could easily prove their respective positions. All Rabo has to do is produce the written statements that they believe gives them sufficient reason to terminate their employee's contract. As Mr. Hate has repeatedly and correctly pointed out this is essentially a contractual matter that, at least ostensibly, has nothing to do with doping. Rabo is (supposedly) a professional outfit that is legally bound by EC's rigid employment law. They just can't chuck somebody out on his **** on the basis of an accusation. Summary dismissal requires procedures to be followed and evidence to be produced. If they've got the evidence to vindicate their stance they should make it available or at least indicate definitively that it exists.

By the same token, if Ras is indeed innocent it is incumbent on him to produce some of the many documents that must be available if he is telling the truth. Instead, it has degenerated into the usual he said/she said farce, with accompanying caterwauling, and neither side emerging with any great credit. This is essentially a simple matter but as usual it's dribbling on and on, encouraging rumour and innuendo to fester, and demonstrating yet again that Cycling really knows how to wound itself.

 

[jhuskey]

Damn guys he was fired not charged with a crime. You don't even need a reason to fire someone in most states in our democracy,technically a republic, but either way, as I have posted " They have more than speculation to pull the yellow jersey out of the race". Of this I am confident.
My pick is also gone and wasn't caught for anything and I will live to ***** another day. I am taking off tomorrow and go out and beat the hell out of several mile of asphalt.

BTW:Anyone heard from Cyclingheros?

 

[Klodifan]

BTW:Anyone heard from Cyclingheros?

i have been wondering about CH too. his site has not been updated in several days and other then getting a message from him at the beginning of the tour, i havent heard a word. he is probably really busy. all the same, i hope he is ok.

 

[Serafino]

Damn guys he was fired not charged with a crime. You don't even need a reason to fire someone in most states in our democracy,technically a republic, but either way, as I have posted " They have more than speculation to pull the yellow jersey out of the race". Of this I am confident.
My pick is also gone and wasn't caught for anything and I will live to ***** another day. I am taking off tomorrow and go out and beat the hell out of several mile of asphalt.

BTW:Anyone heard from Cyclingheros?

CH must be quite depressed. An endless stream of bad news.

I wonder if Rabo won't quietly pay off Raz. A team which peddles EPO to its U23s and big team riders (at least in the last 90's through early 2000's) doesn't have the moral right to say anyone violated its "internal" code. Rabo (along with Dutch and Belgian cycling in general) has been known (according to people I know who rode on teams professionally) to treat doping as a fact of life, a necessity.

I actually pity the riders. I think that they are a victim of the system. Sure they could say no, but then they'd likely they'd be out of a contract.

The whole system has to change, as does the culture of scapegoating a rider while team management acts SHOCKED just SHOCKED!

 

[Klodifan]

The whole system has to change, as does the culture of scapegoating a rider while team management acts SHOCKED just SHOCKED!

i totally agree with this. absolutely!

 

[whiteboytrash]

BTW:Anyone heard from Cyclingheros?

Yes where is Cyclingheroes... ? Maybe fallen to the gear ? Injecting blood in a gutter in France somewhere ? CH where are you ?

_______

What thread we on ? Today on EuroSport they had a little wee story on Lucha Herrera..... said that the drug cartels tried to buy him out.... apparently he stood for parliament as an independent or something and kidnapped by drug rebels !!! from memory he also said "the day when I saw guys with fat arses climbing mountains faster than me I knew it was time to get out of cycling"..... probably the only cyclist to be impacted by the social drug problem and the sporting...... think he rode in the Columbian national uniform in 83 when Fignon won....

 

[Tim Lamkin]

think he rode in the Columbian national uniform in 83 when Fignon won....

Great now we know Fignon doped

 

[hukkaloogey]

Damn guys he was fired not charged with a crime. You don't even need a reason to fire someone in most states in our democracy,technically a republic...

True, but within the industrialized world that is a uniquely American problem. It's difficult to get away with that in Canada, and if you do it in Europe you risk the chance of having to pay the fired-without-just-cause victim's salary for a very, very long time. Heck, even legitimate lay-off notices need about a year of lead time and severance for any employee that has been around for more than a few years. This does perhaps suggest that evidence is being withheld by Rabobank. Who knows? I think they're all loony (or potty, depending on your longitude.)

I like the 'technically a republic' remark.

 

[chainstay]

There is a rumor that a 3rd positive was found after the Plateau-de-Beille, and one of the riders tested was Rasmussen.

Rabobank could well be doing some cover your ass for negative information on Rass that could still come out at a later date, but I doubt that removing a rider from a team with doping control subsequently agreeing to hold back the results of a positive test for that rider is an option. If doping control and the Tour organizers did this deal for Rabobank, they would have to give the same option for all teams that had riders who tested positive. Yet regarding other teams, it appears that the standard practice and expectation is for the entire team to withdraw from the competition if one of their riders comes up with a positive. So I doubt Rass tested positive and that Rabobank is escaping the embarrassment of the test going public by firing Rass, if that is what you are implying.

 

[thebluetrain]

Great now we know Fignon doped

LOL,

 

[limerickman]

Great now we know Fignon doped

Fignon never failed a test.


so he couldn't have doped - that's what the lawyers tell the defence, these days

 

[chainstay]

I can't remember whether or not this UCI Article #220 has already been talked about on this thread or not:

Article 220 of the UCI's anti-doping rules states: "In case of a recorded warning or a missed test in a period of 45 days before the start of a major Tour, the rider is not allowed to participate in that Tour."

Apparently Tour De France official Prudhomme is pretty angry that UCI did not enforce this rule with regard to Rass and that Rass was even allowed to start the Tour in the first place. But McQuaid,

who also praised Rabobank, defended the UCI's role, saying that although Rasmussen missed tests, he was tested in June and found to be clean.

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/26072007/58/tour-de-france-tour-blames-uci-rasmussen.html

 

[hukkaloogey]

From http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2007/07/26/sofron126.xml (italic emphasis mine)

Article 220 of the UCI's anti-doping rules says: "In case of a recorded warning or a missed test in a period of 45 days before the start of a major Tour, the rider is not allowed to participate in that Tour." The major tours are of France, Italy and Spain.

"It would have been good if this rule had been applied," Prudhomme said. "If the rule had been applied, it would have avoided a lot of troubles for us."

UCI president Pat McQuaid said that even though Rasmussen missed tests, he was still eventually tested by UCI in June. The rider has said that the test was negative.

McQuaid said the rule was "unjust" because a rider could be excluded from a big race even for being a day late in communicating their whereabouts. The rule is expected to be scrapped at the UCI's next congress, he said.

____

So here's the bottom line. The yellow jersey was fired by his team and therefore excluded from the Tour because someone thought they saw him in Italy in mid-June.

What??? This is insane.

 

[Trajectum]

So here's the bottom line. The yellow jersey was fired by his team and therefore excluded from the Tour because someone thought they saw him in Italy in mid-June.

What??? This is insane.

Actually Rasmussen allegedly admitted to the general manager of the Rabobank (Theo de Rooy) that indeed he was in Italy when de Rooy confonted him with it at first. This made de Rooy decide to exclude him from the team and terminate his contract.

Then again this means that even de Rooy has lied during the rest day. Because at the press conferrence the Rabo gave at that day de Rooy stated that Rasmussen and the team had been in daily contact in the month prior to the tour de France. If that was the case then him being in Italy should not pose a suprise.

Bottom line is that I do think he was in Italy. If he wasnt he should be able to clarify it but I wouldt bet too much money on it.

 

[hukkaloogey]

Then why is Rasmussen quoted in newspapers saying, "I wasn't in Italy, no way. That's the story of one man who thinks he saw me. But there's not the slightest proof."?

Now I'm just confused. (But it wouldn't be the first time. )

 

[nns1400]

Then why is Rasmussen quoted in newspapers saying, "I wasn't in Italy, no way. That's the story of one man who thinks he saw me. But there's not the slightest proof."?

Now I'm just confused. (But it wouldn't be the first time. )

Why did Floyd Landis say he never used PED's?