Tour leader is dropped by national team

Published on Friday 20 July 2007 11:57

TOUR DE FRANCE leader Michael Rasmussen has been dropped from the Danish national team after receiving several warnings from the International Cycling Union and anti-doping authorities, the Danish Cycling Union (DCU) said in a statement.

The DCU did not give details what the warnings were for, but Danish public television station DR said Rasmussen had been given them for failing to inform anti-doping authorities of his whereabouts while training.

Rasmussen is married to a Mexican and does a lot of his training in that country.

Under UCI rules, a rider's schedule has to be known by the sport's governing body in order to conduct anti-doping random tests.

"We've got information from both the UCI and Anti-Doping Denmark and we know that he received several warnings," DCU director Jesper Worre said in an interview on DR.

"It's confidential information, but we won't lie in this situation, because people must know that the DCU is fighting for a clean sport."

The DCU said Rasmussen would not take part in the September's world championships or the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

It added it took the decision to drop the rider on June 21, but did not say why it waited until now to announce it.

DR quoted Rasmussen as saying he had received only one warning and blaming it on a postal service delay.

"There must be someone at the top who doesn't wish me well. I can't find another explanation," Rasmussen told Danish newspaper Politiken.

The 33-year-old added he had known of the DCU decision for three weeks.

"I tried to give an explanation of what happened, but they wouldn't accept it. But this is something that should not in the least affect my continued participation in the Tour," he said.

Riding for Rabobank, Rasmussen, who won the eighth stage of the Tour last Sunday, heads the race's overall and King of the Mountain standings. He is aiming for a third consecutive best climber polka dot jersey.

South Africa's Robbie Hunter won stage 11 of the Tour from Marseille to Montpellier.

The Barloworld rider secured glory by the smallest of margins ahead of the peloton after a crash in the final kilometre brought a dramatic end to the Tour's quickest stage so far this year.