The 94th Tour de France is on the threshold of winding up by Sunday in Paris, however, it’d not be surprising if it tumbles down the hill right now. After Alexandre Vinokourov, it was race leader Rasmussen who is expelled from the tour for going against team policies.
Rasmussen encompassed the 218.5-kilometre trek through the Pyrenees from Orthez to Gourette-Col d’Aubisque, by winning the 16th stage of the tour with timings of six hours 23 minutes and 21 seconds. Levi Leipheimer of the United States was placed second and Alberto Contador of Spain finished third.
Rasmussen extended his overall lead to 3:10 over Contador and 5:10 over Australia’s Cadel Evans and appeared to be on the threshold to claim the championship of cycling’s most prestigious event.
However, shortly after winning the 16th stage and the Danish was debarred from the Tour de France for giving wrong information and missing random drug tests. As a testing regime, professional cyclists must notify antidoping authorities regarding their whereabouts during the off-seasons so that they can be tested anytime. Rabobank’s spokesperson told the Associated Press, ‘Rasmussen has been sent home for violating internal rules.’
After Landis’s affair becoming public, doping allegations and scandals seem unending for the sport. Recently in May, Bjarne Riis, the winner of the 1996 Tour, yielded to the same charges. Patrik Sinkewitz, a German rider for the T-Mobile team, which has heavily promoted its internal antidoping regimen, also failed a drug screening weeks before the race began.
The Cofidis team, based in France, withdrew from the tour after Cristian Moreni an Italian rider for the team failed a dope test following the 11th stage. On Tuesday, Team Astana also pulled out of the event after its lead rider, Alexandre Vinokourov of Kazakhstan, tested positive for a banned blood transfusion.
The ongoing tour is now tattered as the leader Rasmussen is removed with Contador, who cycles for Discovery Channel, seizing the overall lead.
Via: CBC
