Rasmussen out of the tour!!!



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Eden said:
I really hope that this is not true - seriously unless they haven't realeased something yet the only reason for pulling him would be his missing some out of season tests (for which he has already been punished) and rumors spread by a mt. biking collegue of his. If it comes to pulling riders out because someone *says* that they saw something, heard something, whatever - what kind of chaos would that cause! ANYONE could start a rumor to get any other rider that they wanted pulled from a race. Heck, at least riders wouldn't have to dope, they could take all the money they are saving not buying EPO and use if for bribes instead. :mad:

I'll say disarray - the officals obviously don't trust their own anti cheating measures if they act on rumor and innuendo

They have a recording of him saying he's is in Italy !
 
**** this, im not gonna watch the tour anymore this year. What an absolute waste of 2 weeks. If contador wins i will be physically sick.
 
More news coming out

Rasmussen pulled out of Tour

Yellow jersey Michael Rasmussen (Rabobank) will not start Stage 17 of the Tour de France Thursday morning.

Team manager Theo DeRooy has withdrawn the maillot jaune from the Tour de France, allegedly because Rasmussen lied to the Rabobank team as to his true whereabouts when he missed his out of competition tests in June.

DeRooy will not withdraw the entire team, but will allow the riders to choose to start the stage tomorrow.

Stay tuned to Cyclingnews for more information as the story develops.
 
Trajectum said:
It is based on something new. He claimed he missed his out of competition tests since he was training in Mexico. But it turns out that he was training in the countryside of the dolomiten (dont know if thats the name in english as well but its an area in italy)..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolomites

The Dolomite mountains... lovely part of the world... WBT goes there to un-wind from the stresses of cyclingforums.......
 
http://eurosport.yahoo.com/25072007/3/rasmussen-tour-de-france.html

Booted by his own team for lying about his location during training. He was not in Mexico, they say it has been confirmed that he was in Italy.

There goes my hero.:(

This has been a really crazy and zany Tour. I bet Contador will be wishing the yellow jersey was on someone elses back before this is over.

Why don't they just have a vote and the guy voted least likely to have doped should be given Jersey. I have a feeling if whoever is wearing it, wears it long enough, he'll get tossed too.

Adios fellas, talk to you next July.
 
Here are the Cadel/Alberto gaps for the Stage 13 ITT. True, Alberto rode stronger than most expected, but Cadel did not ride weaker than most expected.
Results
1 Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz) Astana 1.06.34 (48.661 km/h)
2 Cadel Evans (Aus) Predictor - Lotto 1.14
3 Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana 1.39
4 Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Astana 1.44
5 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone 2.14
6 Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 2.16
7 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 2.18

Cadel was only able to put in 1.04 over the course of 54 km. The upcoming ITT is comparable in distance at 55.5 km. Significantly, Cadel will have burnt a lot of matches during today's stage trying to not lose time to Levi and Alberto. True, Alberto and Levi were pressed too to try and dislodge Ras and Cadel, respectively. However, I suspect that Alberto was better suited to the climb today than Cadel.
 
I dont know if i'm wrong, but among the first.....who can be "saved", i mean "clean"?

ContaPuerto, no way
Evans, maybe
Leipheimer, no way, he got all LA tricks
Sastre, maybe....what he did in this tour?
Zubelida, unlikely
Piti....what a shame he's riding (same as ContaPuerto)
Kirchen....same Evans boat?

...another Tour without winner.....
 
stilesiii said:
http://eurosport.yahoo.com/25072007/3/rasmussen-tour-de-france.html

Booted by his own team for lying about his location during training. He was not in Mexico, they say it has been confirmed that he was in Italy.

I'm sure there is more to Ras' situation than his own team, without any pressure, deciding to boot him from a maillot jaune. ;)

This is amazingly good news for DC. It goes to show what team unity, great riders, and a strategically astute DS can yield. As a bonus, I can imagine Riis writhing in agony at this news!
 
Rob81 said:
I dont know if i'm wrong, but among the first.....who can be "saved", i mean "clean"?

ContaPuerto, no way
Evans, maybe
Leipheimer, no way, he got all LA tricks
Sastre, maybe....what he did in this tour?
Zubelida, unlikely
Piti....what a shame he's riding (same as ContaPuerto)
Kirchen....same Evans boat?

...another Tour without winner.....
Cadel Evans has a very good reputation
 
IMO they've been looking for the rationale to drop him for a while. They now have their violation that they can pin a decision on. Hmmm.... wonder if T-Mobile will be extending their support come Saturday. If they are watching TdF thru Liggett and Sherwen, they might miss the Vino, Astana, Rasmussen expulsions altogether.
 
whiteboytrash said:
Any Masters races ? Any junior races going on ? Do woman dope ? any races going on with the chics ? anything anything.....
Fly on over, I'll be racing next weekend. If anyone in the cat 4 women's field dopes I'll eat my bike........

(we already spend enough money, so we can't afford any EPO, and oh our prizes are usually really, really valuable - like a pair of socks......)
 
Crankyfeet said:
IMO they've been looking for the rationale to drop him for a while. They now have their violation that they can pin a decision on.
Right.

Most likely they've been waiting for anything since his miraculous time trial. They had the opportunity before, but hoped they could ride it out or wait for Ras to lose the yellow. Chickens. As I remember the timeline, the news about the missed tests came before the ITT, the Velonews stuff after, but that was about cow blood in 2002 and there was no tangible evidence, so it couldn't be used. Finally they reacted, but way too late to be credible. At least he's gone.

Anyway, how would have team tactics played out in the mountains without Raz? It's a sham, two lost weeks. What a piece of chickenshit the TdF has become.
 
Trajectum said:
Just heard it on the dutch tv. NOS. Rasmussen has been kicked!

<sniffs>
I agree. It's a bit fishy that almost all the "cleared" riders from Operation Puerto were Spanish. Why is no one talking about Contador? Kicking out Ras. when he's failed zero tests and is a few days from winning feels like it was STRONGLY suggested by the UCI/ASO. After Prudhomme's comments (how he didn't want Ras winning and how they tried as hard as they could to get rid of him) I think Rabo was forced to do it.

This is ridiculous, stupid and the final nail in the coffin. I feel bad for the Vuelta organizers.
 
It's a Rabobank decision. He lied. He was found out. He broke internal rules.

Why did he not tell the truth? What is he trying to hide?
 
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