From what I understand, the 'communication' had to go through Italian mail.

The communication didn't HAVE to go through the mail, but it did. Rasmussen had the option of telling the testers by mail or email that he was going to go to Mexico. He chose to mail the form which arrived 11 days after he arrived in Mexico. On previous occasions he had emailed the form.

It goes without saying that he knew the letter needed to arrive before he arrived in Mexico, but he posted it shortly before leaving - knowing full well what the Italian postal system is like, and knowing he was desperately short of time to get it in on time. He had already received warnings about failing to tell testers of his whereabouts. But he still chose snail mail over email - leaving himself wide open to another warning. That's plain weird.

He could have - a.) posted a letter when he bought his air tickets. or b.) sent an email when he realised he was right out of time. He chose to do neither and it cost him a place at the Worlds and the Olympics. Why do something so high risk? It's just really strange.

Interesting question of cyclists who fly down hills and hairpins to get a yellow jersey. :D

Why do something so high risk? It's just really strange.

haha, lol @ islandboy comment

Interesting question of cyclists who fly down hills and hairpins to get a yellow jersey. :D

It's sad if he's been banned from the Olympics just because he's a bit loopy. Almost makes you hope he has taken drugs.

Who cares what David Millar says. He's as big of a whiner as Cadel. He's the one who climbed off his bike and refused to finish a stage meters from the finish of the Vuelta. He thought the rain and steepness of the climb were unfair, too hard. By paying the price he earned the right to ride as a pro again, but he hasn't earned the right to speak for anyone but himself. If it wasn't Chicken, it would be the fans, the course, the weather, or some other inconvenience that would ruin the Tour for Millar.

I'm disappointed Velonews choose to use more resources chasing around every rumor and unsubstantiated charge out there. Look at their website and the news items. They're acting exactly like the French journalists did in Lance's era, formulating a headhunting party against Chicken. Here's some headlines-
"Pressure building on Rasmussen... on and off the bike"
"Millar says Rasmussen has ruined Tour."
"Rasmussen not exactly winning hearts and minds among his colleagues"
"Rasmussen might have been barred from the Tour had missing tests been reported"
"Ex cyclists levels doping charges against Rasmussen"

Why didn't Velonews and other media publish reports on stories existing before the Tour, BEFORE the Tour? Why do they indulge stories preplanned to appear during the Tour as a distraction?



My guess is that Velonews is simply reflecting the consensus opinion within the peleton. Protour riders know the performance parameters better than most of the people on this board. When they see a guy missing multiple doping tests and spending quality time in Mexico (where meds are available over the counter without a scrip--remember the flap about DiLuca's similar trip a few years ago before the Giro?) in the period leading up to the Tour, they smell a rat. Then the guy in question (a climbing specialist) is not only "flying up the climbs" but beating TT specialists in the ITT and they know something is amiss.

This sort of reminds me of Simoni's "ET" comments about Basso at last year's Giro. Of course, the same people here dismissed Simoni as a "whiner," etc., but Basso's recent history suggests that Simoni was on target.

Unfortunately, pro cycling has become a sick joke. The problems are driven in part by the huge amount of money that has come into the sport in the last decade and a half. I fear that the only solution will be a massive exodus of sponsorship dollars. It will be a bummer for those whose livelihoods depend on the sport, but probably good for cycling in the long run.

Well first of all it is 5 years old.. going on six!

thats like saying the US should attack Iran because the Iron Sheek Beat hulk hogan in the 80's. - It's not relevant today. If he is doping and we have certain proof of it that is one thing. Hear say and time and lack of evidence. Also then why let Zabel race? We know he doped 10 yrs ago.. HE'S A DOPER!!ARRGHH!.. Perhaps he did dope in 2002, what is the relevance today? he hasn't been wearing the jersey since then. Also keep in mind that doping has been a disciplne practiced by what seems to be the majority of any top cyclist in the armstrong era. now that is changing and it is making it difficult to compete. Now a good climber is not the Best ITT'er. THe Time trial specialist, can't climb like a goat, the Sprinters are not climbing and time trialing. Now it seems the pro's must be the best at what ever it is they specialize in, and hope to be decent at the rest. Yeah there are a few " talents " that can be decent at all of them but not often.

Second: he has not be guilty of doping: or has had a non-negative result
JMHO



Great - one more f'n reason why Cheney and those neocon idiots are going to bomb, bomb, bomb Iran.

Sorry. I thought that since you understand the Danes so well that you must understand Danish.

Go figure.

So Rassmussan is now back on the National Team?:rolleyes:


Sure - the Danish public may still be big fans of him, but those who actually are in control of the Danish cycling team are not. I am sure Rassmussan receives the same benefit of doubt that the Lance fans give Armstrong here in the States.

I think you were mis-interpreting my post. But since it is your second language, I will cut you some slack.

Rasmussen has ruined my taste for chicken.

Rasmussen has ruined my taste for chicken.

Like store bought chicken isn't already full of performance enhancing drugs...

:rolleyes:

So what are the facts?

Rasmussen possibly missed two out of competition UCI doping tests. Under UCI rules, missing 2 tests gets you a warning but no suspension. UCI have known this for some time, but have not changed their rules, nor put pressure on Rasmussen, the Rabo team or the tour organization to discourage Rasmussen from starting the tour.

Those are the only relevant facts. The rest is hear say and speculation.

Yes, the UCI did nothing, because technically, Rasmussan was within their boundaries. However, couple the ABOVE with the Danish authorities and what do you get? A heaping lot of evidence of deliberate f'n around with the testing authorities.

Let me get this straight: Rassmussan decides that the Alps and the Pyrenees are not sufficient for training for climbing in the Alps and Pyrenees. Instead, he goes to Mexico, snail mails the information to the Danish authorities so that there is almost no chance the authorities could even schedule a test, and you want US, the public, to take it at face value that this was just a clerical error.

Dude - how stupid or ignorant do you think we are? How gullible are YOU?

The fact is, these facts in ADDITION to the allegations of previous riders and even a medical doctor who examined that shoe box add up to a horrible P.R. mess for cycling.

You just do not get it. The anger is because instead of using this Tour to heal the wounds from last year, we are stuck again in another doping story-line involving this year''s winner.

Someone had mentioned that IIRC his wife is from Mexico. Could they, perchance, have family down there?

I thought it was garbage when people got suspended for maybe kinda possibly being linked to Puerto when it happened in the 2006 tour. I think it's equally crappy to have everyone assume the worst without a positive test.

Just because you forget to call and say you're going to be home late doesn't mean you're having an affair, though it may be a cause for suspicion. That's what this feels like to me.

Someone had mentioned that IIRC his wife is from Mexico. Could they, perchance, have family down there?

I thought it was garbage when people got suspended for maybe kinda possibly being linked to Puerto when it happened in the 2006 tour. I think it's equally crappy to have everyone assume the worst without a positive test.

Just because you forget to call and say you're going to be home late doesn't mean you're having an affair, though it may be a cause for suspicion. That's what this feels like to me.

I am past the point of giving these guys any benefit. This is not the court of law, so innocent until proven guilty does not apply. At this point, I am base my opinions based on the following:

If the guy acts suspicious, he must be guilty. Seriously - any rider who is clean WOULD NOT act in the way Rassmussan did. No one would be so stupid as to risk violating the rules with UCI and the Danish team if they were clean. Think about it man. If you were a rider, and you were clean, why would you ever risk potentially getting the 3 strikes with UCI. I mean, lets say Rassmussan is clean. Now, he has NO wiggle room going forward for any erros whatsoever. Who would put them in that situation if they were clean?

At least Chicken will get a pass because Millar can whine about Vino and Astana for the rest of the tour. :rolleyes:

Is this year's tour turning out to be worse than last year? :eek:

At least Chicken will get a pass because Millar can whine about Vino and Astana for the rest of the tour. :rolleyes:

Is this year's tour turning out to be worse than last year? :eek:

Hard to say. With last year's Tour, a ton of top riders were kicked out before the tour started, and the winner was caught doping.

Here - you have 2 riders, one a domestique, the other an aging star who was out of contention caught. And you have the current Yellow Jersey rider under suspicioun of doping, which is not as bad as being caught outright.

SO in terms of outright doping scandals, last year was worse. BUT - this year, because of last year, is worse. I think sponsors are done. Lets count the sponsors who are getting out of the sport now:


- Discovery
- Astana
- T-Mobile
- Credit Agricole
- Unibet (why would they support a team that cannot race in the big events)

That is 20% of the Pro-Tour that we know about. If you think there are tons of other sponsors chomping at the bit, you are wrong.

Thoughts?

It appears that others agree with Millar's thoughts (http://www.velonews.com/tour2007/news/articles/12882.0.html).


Looks like Ras is the LEAST of the tours shame this year.

But since it is your second language, I will cut you some slack.

Neither English nor Danish is my second language.

Your 'point' was ambiguous: something like he will not see the fruits of his labor because the 'Danes' do not want him.

The public is on his side, and he will, barring additional evidence, be a hero here. They still love Bjarne, after all.

Neither English nor Danish is my second language.

Your 'point' was ambiguous: something like he will not see the fruits of his labor because the 'Danes' do not want him.

The public is on his side, and he will, barring additional evidence, be a hero here. They still love Bjarne, after all.

If you think he is going to get a ton of sponsorship money, I think you are wrong. Sponsors want to steer clear of dopers, even suspected dopers, and this guy is clearly as close to guilty as you can get without being guilty.

i gotta laugh when ex-doper millar stands on his soapbox and lectures others.

Just because he [hopefully] learned from his mistakes? :rolleyes:

"It is understandable he had problems communicating his address from Mexico..."

BS. It's called a telephone. Yeah, they got 'em in Mexico, too.

TCS
Which is exactly what Millar was saying. Rasmussen had no excuse. He had "problems", but nothing insurmountable.

Someone had mentioned that IIRC his wife is from Mexico. Could they, perchance, have family down there?


dont forget mexico has lots of altitude its where cyclists used to train before epo

was there last year fantastic place even if i di get dizzy running for a subway train

Who the heck stays in Mexico until a week before the Tour?

I'd be afraid that Montezuma's Revenge (La Tourista) would hit late in the trip and mess up the plans to get back to France in good shape before the biggest cycling race in the world.

Rasmussen was gambling on that one!

His wife is Mexican.

Someone had mentioned that IIRC his wife is from Mexico. Could they, perchance, have family down there?

I thought it was garbage when people got suspended for maybe kinda possibly being linked to Puerto when it happened in the 2006 tour. I think it's equally crappy to have everyone assume the worst without a positive test.

Just because you forget to call and say you're going to be home late doesn't mean you're having an affair, though it may be a cause for suspicion. That's what this feels like to me.

She has family there.

July? I have not heard anything about July.

No relation. According to the web, there are 65,701 Rasmussens in Denmark (listed in the phone book).

Michael comes from a small town near Copenhagen.

Alex hails from Odense, my current locale, and was a World Champion track cyclist (scratch race).

http://www.mip.sdu.dk/~glewin/cykling_files/image620.jpg

He was late-June 29-notifying the anti-doping authorities where he would be during July.

Not defending MR, or accusing him, but one proclivity of human nature is to mess with those authorities that have control over you. Perhaps he is just messing with them, pushing the boundaries. He did test clean fourteen times.

Not defending MR, or accusing him, but one proclivity of human nature is to mess with those authorities that have control over you. Perhaps he is just messing with them, pushing the boundaries. He did test clean fourteen times.
everyone was told not to pull any stunts.
doping is a very sensitive issue in cycling and any cyclist with doping rumors surrounding him will put his career at risk.
so, no, it doesn't seem likely that he was just pushing boundaries, at least if he isn't ******ed.