Chicken flies the coop

[Dayvo]

No, that goes against French law of not allowing gambling, that well-known heinious criminal activity, to be advertised on TV!

 

[yello]

I don't think Rabobank know more. I think they merely concluded that there was no innocent explanation for a flagrant disregard for the rules.

Agreed.

Remember folks, Rasmussen has not turned in a positive test result. There is no suggestion that he doped. He seemingly lied to his team (why? why would he do that??). And, in the current climate, that left Rabobank with no alternative.

I don't agree that the team should withdraw as there is no suggestion the team acted wrongly. Rasmussen is a professional athlete with obligations to his team. It is not for them to control his movements but they need to know where he is at any given time. Rasmussen didn't do that so he's been punished by the team. Sadly for him, the punishment is severe.

 

[gavintc]

So does Contador start today in yellow or will there be no yellow today?

 

[chris42]

Yes he will wear yellow

 

[Tetedelacourse]

I agree with Yello. I don't think there's anything more to this. Rasmussen willfully and knowingly misled his team management, in direct opposition to the rules. That's enough to get the spanish archer. I also agree with above that they'd have learned this from some external source and therefore could not "keep it in the family".

I for one am glad. There would always have been a question mark over a Rasmussen victory and now is the time to remove that possibility - we don't want to end up with another Landis situation. It's sad for the sport but the more that are found out or sacked for doping related offences just now the better. Let's face it it can't get much bigger than Vino and the Maillot Jaune in the space of 2 days can it? So get the rest of the cheating feckers out.

Moreni couldn't have picked a better day to test positive, sandwiched in between those two.

Of course, there will be doubt over whoever wins the tour now but in the absence of any allegations or evidence I'll support the win.

 

[Blonde]

He should not have been allowed to start if his team were not happy about his UCI warnings etc. I guess they didn't know he has lied to them as well but it is annoying, having followed the man thus far. As you say though, perhaps it's better that he leave now than win the tour and have people boo-ing him on the podium! He'll need a police escort anyway, I should think, or he'll get lynched by Basques - the idea of close physical contact with Borat look-a-likes wearing little more than a flo-green crotch swimsuit would make any naughty cyclist cry!

 

[Tetedelacourse]

You're right Blonde, Rabobank did not know they had a rider who had purposely evaded tests. They had suspicisions about his alibi, but he provided a plausible, if far-fetched, explanation. Only when this explanation was refuted could they, or should they, act. Which is what happened.

By the way, was anyone else cringeing at a) ITV4s Vino montage and watching a "superhuman" effort form Boogerd in the Pyrenees?

 

[Jeffrey Hammond-Hammond]

I think this is great news about Rasmussen. I felt nothing yesterday seeing him surge away from Contador and Leipheimer. If he had carried on the cloud around him would have just got bigger and more ominous. He lied and Rabobank have dealt with it. Could you imagine it if we were to have another Landis, i.e. the peleton clinking their champagne glasses on the run-in to Paris on Sunday and then a few days after we discover the truth about Rasmussen.

Yes, it's a mess, but for some reason for the first time in ages and considering the circumstances I actually feel quite positive about our sport.

 

[Disgruntled Goat]

I agree, I think this is great news it shows that the sport is no longer turning a blind eye and that doping or even the suggestion of doping will not be tolerated.

Rabobank could have kept quiet but chose not to. Good on them.

 

[alecstilleyedye]

well it had to get worse before it got better. until the message hits home that you can't compete, cheat and get away with it, there will always be those that chance their arm. making the time not worth the crime is the only way forward.

 

[Stick on a Giant]

Velonews have said he was in Italy 'working with an as-yet un-named doctor'!
By not failing a dope test he won't have to give up a year's salary, as per the UCI charter?
And as he hasn't failed a dope test, will the TdF records still show he won yesterday's stage? and will he get the prize money?

 

[fuzzy29]

This is a shame, but if it wasn't one of the cyclists I (used to) like then I would be calling for his head. Rabobank have acted in the only way possible. There are two offences here, the missed tests and lying to the team. If I told my boss I was working somewhere and was actually somewhere else, I would expect to be sacked.

Lets just hope that Discovery don't sign him in the next few weeks!

 

[spen666]

...
Not sure why they didn't sack him first off, even though he hadn't been caught with anything in his system

Perhaps your boss should sack you despite you not being caught doing anything wrong?

Perhaps the courts should jail you for life you not being caught doing anything wrong?

Whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty or are you proposing a return to the lynch mob mentality

 

[yello]

As I said in another thread, it depends WHEN Rabobank found out. They might have sacked Rasmussen as soon as they found out he had lied.

I would have thought his results so far in the TdF will stand. He'll just be treated as a rider that has withdrawn.

So far, I have not read anywhere that he was "chucked off" the tour (as Sky reported earlier in their headlines). I don't think he has infringed any rules of the TdF (but do correct me if I am wrong). He was sacked by his team and withdrawn.

 

[Squaggles]

Ras is claiming that he was in fact in Mexico and that the team have got it wrong . Surely this can easily be checked ? I assumed Rabobank had some kind of evidence rather than just Cassani saying he had seen him training in the dolomites .