"I'm shattered. I'm on the verge of tears," said Rasmussen today, quoted in the Danish tabloid BT. "I was not in Italy. Not at all. That's the story of one man who believes he recognised me. There is no hint of evidence."
He was referring to former professional Davide Cassani, who said he saw Rasmussen training in the Italian Dolomites on June 13th and 14th. Cassani said that he is "100% certain" that it was Rasmussen. This was at a time when the rider had told the team and the UCI that he was in Mexico.
From what it appears and what Rasmussen claims he's been determined to have lied because ONE person, Davide Cassani, claims he saw Rasmussen training on the road in Italy. If this is true, that he's been thrown out on ONE MAN's claim of having seen him riding in Italy, then this is idiotic and WRONG. If I were Rasmussen, I'd sue the ASO and Rabobank for everything they're worth. And if all they have is that one guy as an "eyewitness" he'd win the case.
Disgraced cyclist Michael Rasmussen said his career was a ruins after he was pulled out of the Tour de France as leader, the Dutch Algemeen Dagblad daily said Thursday. Rasmussen, who was suspended by his Dutch team Rabobank on Wednesday night for lying in connection with his whereabouts earlier this year and missed doping tests, also claimed he did not know why he had to quit.
"I am ... aware my career has been ruined," said Rasmussen, who wore the yellow jersey as overall leader for almost a fortnight.
Rasmussen, 33, also claimed he did not know why he was dropped, saying that team boss "Theo de Rooy could not explain me what moved him to remove me from the Tour."
Rabobank said that Rasmussen "broke team rules" in connection with missed doping tests.
"On several occasions, he claimed he was training, and that was a lie," de Rooy said. "Team management was warned several times and had received new information on Wednesday."
Note that he says the team management was warned (obviously by ASO) and then got some new info on wednseday (obviously this eyewitness' account). My guess is ASO wanted Rasmussen gone and this eyewitness was a perfect excuse for them and the Rabo team didn't want to have to leave like Cofidis/Astana. Seriously though, if all they have is Cassani's account, then they are WRONG to kick out Rasmussen.
skinnyone
07-26-07, 07:52 AM
It should be easy to prove from his passport and the immigration stamps as to his whereabouts right?? Lets see if it comes to that or some smoke and mirrors explanation..
alanbikehouston
07-26-07, 07:53 AM
Read every statement Rasmussen has made in the past two weeks about why he missed (one, two, three, or four tests). His own team mates noticed his story changing and evolving. When he was confronted with the fact he had been seen in Italy when he claimed to be in Mexico, he confessed.
But, Rasmussen has been lying for a long time. He is good at it. Missing test after test did not happen by accident. It took a good deal of planning and effort for Rasmussen to avoid testing.
So, you say you are feeling sorry for this guy?
captin pank
07-26-07, 07:54 AM
Didn't te DS of Rabo say that Ras confirmed that he was in Italy when confronted on it?
erader
07-26-07, 07:55 AM
if you don't play by the rules you gotta go. rasmussen was yanked from the tour and dropped by two teams because he wanted to play games with the doping checks.
ed rader
RockyMtnMerlin
07-26-07, 07:55 AM
Well Ras seems to be confused about where he was. He is now saying he was not in Italy but according to cyclingnews.com, not only was he seen in Italy but,
"When Rasmussen was confronted with this information he confirmed to Theo de Rooy [team manager] he was at that moment in Italy," said Rabobank press officer Jacob Bergsma last night. "That was the reason De Rooy decided to get him out of the Tour and the team."
GV27
07-26-07, 07:58 AM
I'll tell you what cements it for me - guys on the Rabobank board of directors (not the team board - the bank itself) weighed in as convinced that he'd lied to them. Bankers aren't usually apt to give in to speculation and sketchy evidence. These are guys who's life is built around being conservative. I think the bank had a lot more to gain from Chicken winning than they had to lose from him being popped for doping. They must have been dead certain of the facts before making this move.
pcates
07-26-07, 07:59 AM
A team would not withdraw their star rider, especially if he was in yellow, because someone said 'oh yea i saw him in italy'............obviously there is more evidence than that. I mean if he was in Mexico he'd have a paper trail...visa, plane tickets, etc etc......if he really was there i'm sure he'd get his wife to run to the filing cabinet and get that stuff to show his bosses......
What i don't get is why he would lie? I mean,......surely you can dope in mexico?
eandmwilson
07-26-07, 08:06 AM
I'm still not sold. I have no problem with Ras being pulled for skipping doping tests and all that. There are rules, follow them.
What I still don't get is what changed? They knew all this stuff BEFORE the tour, and if it was a big deal now, it was a big deal then and he should have been pulled at the start. This one eye witness smells of a red herring, not a smoking gun.
I'm not given to conspiracy theories at all, becuase most large beauracratic bodies are too inept to pull one off. The ineptitude by which this is being handled confirms it is a conspiracy! (or at least the attempt at one)
brianappleby
07-26-07, 08:13 AM
as mentioned in an earlier thread, that single part in de Rooy's qoute about "new information on wednesday" means that they discovered something BIG and we don't know about it yet.
ericy
07-26-07, 08:16 AM
What i don't get is why he would lie? I mean,......surely you can dope in mexico?
Yeah, but it also involves training in the mountains, and I don't know if Mexico has mountains with paved roads that would be good for training.
Baroque
07-26-07, 08:17 AM
It should be easy to prove from his passport and the immigration stamps as to his whereabouts right?? Lets see if it comes to that or some smoke and mirrors explanation..
Your passport isn't always stamped. I don't have a stamp for every time I've entered a different country. Usually I'm just waved through - no stamp. (My passport would be FULL by now, if it was!)
donrhummy
07-26-07, 08:17 AM
A team would not withdraw their star rider, especially if he was in yellow, because someone said 'oh yea i saw him in italy'............obviously there is more evidence than that. I mean if he was in Mexico he'd have a paper trail...visa, plane tickets, etc etc......if he really was there i'm sure he'd get his wife to run to the filing cabinet and get that stuff to show his bosses......
What i don't get is why he would lie? I mean,......surely you can dope in mexico?
Yea, they did it because ASO forced them to. Prudhomme's actually been quoted saying they'd been trying to get rid of Rasmussen.
skiracing
07-26-07, 08:20 AM
To me it doesn't make sense that all these discoveries and investigations occur when the guy has been leading the TDF for sometime and is within the podium's reach, someone cracked and gave in to someone else's pressure. But overall I'd skip on the judgement until the dust settles.
Helmet Head
07-26-07, 08:25 AM
There are two kinds of riders in the tour, the subtle cheaters and the blatant cheaters. They're going after the blatant ones.
lotek
07-26-07, 08:26 AM
I said it before, what makes you think Ras has only one passport?
marty
adam
07-26-07, 08:28 AM
Your passport isn't always stamped. I don't have a stamp for every time I've entered a different country. Usually I'm just waved through - no stamp. (My passport would be FULL by now, if it was!)
I'm sure there are other official documents that could say if you were or were not in the country. I've done a lot of business in Mexico and I have to fill out lots of doco before entering the country. Supposed to hand in the little green card on exit as well.
adam
07-26-07, 08:28 AM
if you don't play by the rules you gotta go. rasmussen was yanked from the tour and dropped by two teams because he wanted to play games with the doping checks.
ed rader
Dropped by two teams? I didn't know that - who else was he dropped by?
donrhummy
07-26-07, 08:29 AM
To me it doesn't make sense that all these discoveries and investigations occur when the guy has been leading the TDF for sometime and is within the podium's reach, someone cracked and gave in to someone else's pressure. But overall I'd skip on the judgement until the dust settles.
I agree. If you're gonna let the guy start and get all the fans into his performances and battles with Contador why do you NOW suddenly do this?
I'm convinced from Prudhomme's comments that if Contador had taken Yellow from Rasmussen and Ras had cracked that he'd still be in the race.
Bob Loblaw
07-26-07, 08:35 AM
Guys help me out here-
Is it illegal to train in the mountains? What is wrong w/ going to Italy? Why is going to Mexico an acceptable alibi for missing a doping test but going to Italy is not?
I'm just not clear on why he felt he had to lie in the first place... Obviously I'm missing something?
ettsn
07-26-07, 08:38 AM
Dropped by two teams? I didn't know that - who else was he dropped by?
The National team.
ettsn
07-26-07, 08:41 AM
Guys help me out here-
Is it illegal to train in the mountains? What is wrong w/ going to Italy? Why is going to Mexico an acceptable alibi for missing a doping test but going to Italy is not?
I'm just not clear on why he felt he had to lie in the first place... Obviously I'm missing something?
If you're hiding the fact that you went to Italy (practically home of doping in cycling), as well as it's an EU country so communication to elsewhere in Europe shouldn't be an issue.
orcanova
07-26-07, 08:42 AM
Yeah, but it also involves training in the mountains, and I don't know if Mexico has mountains with paved roads that would be good for training.
Mexico has awsome mountian climbs with beatifully paved roads. The Sierra Madre del Sur is my favorite mountain chain. I biked from Mexico City to Guatemala City and logged 85,000 feet of climbing over about 800 miles.
Unfortunatley it sounds like Rasmussen never had the joy of experiencing them...his loss, not mine...
regarding evidence, I's sure it would be pretty easy to establish where he was...starting with cell phone records....
erader
07-26-07, 08:43 AM
There are two kinds of riders in the tour, the subtle cheaters and the blatant cheaters. They're going after the blatant ones.
now here's a guy who understands pro racing. the subtle cheats don't blood dope or use epo but are being treated for asthma, a condition they don't have.
ed rader
Bob Loblaw
07-26-07, 08:43 AM
If you're hiding the fact that you went to Italy (practically home of doping in cycling), as well as it's an EU country so communication to elsewhere in Europe shouldn't be an issue.
Gotcha...
So what we saw of Rasmussen in Stage 16 with all the waving and hand gesturing must be the cyclist's equivalent of 'roid rage??? :D
RockyMtnMerlin
07-26-07, 08:44 AM
Guys help me out here-
Is it illegal to train in the mountains? What is wrong w/ going to Italy? Why is going to Mexico an acceptable alibi for missing a doping test but going to Italy is not?
I'm just not clear on why he felt he had to lie in the first place... Obviously I'm missing something?
Obviously we are all missing something. No one knows for sure at this point (except maybe Ras himself) why he found it necessary to lie about his whereabouts. But, as has been stated often, most of us can't figure out why these guys do what they do when they know the risk of getting caught is pretty high.
erader
07-26-07, 08:45 AM
A team would not withdraw their star rider, especially if he was in yellow, because someone said 'oh yea i saw him in italy'............obviously there is more evidence than that. I mean if he was in Mexico he'd have a paper trail...visa, plane tickets, etc etc......if he really was there i'm sure he'd get his wife to run to the filing cabinet and get that stuff to show his bosses......
What i don't get is why he would lie? I mean,......surely you can dope in mexico?
he lied because he was avoiding being tested for doping.
ed rader
orcanova
07-26-07, 08:47 AM
If you're hiding the fact that you went to Italy (practically home of doping in cycling), as well as it's an EU country so communication to elsewhere in Europe shouldn't be an issue.
Because he was trying to claim he was somewhere remote and unreachable from the authorities in Europe. Italy doesn't cut it with that excuse.
Blue Jays
07-26-07, 08:49 AM
If I was a professional-level cyclist with a requirement to document travel and maintain a diary, I would absolutely INSIST that my passport be stamped.
donrhummy
07-26-07, 08:53 AM
If I was a professional-level cyclist with a requirement to document travel and maintain a diary, I would absolutely INSIST that my passport be stamped.
I'd have them set up a friggin' GPS system for when I'm on rides so they could find me. Of course that would mean you/I would not be doping. Which of course also means we wouldn't be pro cyclists.
adam
07-26-07, 08:54 AM
now here's a guy who understands pro racing. the subtle cheats don't blood dope or use epo but are being treated for asthma, a condition they don't have.
ed rader
Always loved the asthma one. I'd love to see the % of pro cyclists with asthma vs. other sports. A chronic respiratory disease definitely sounds like it should be hindering your chances at making the pro ranks.
silver bullet
07-26-07, 08:58 AM
Always loved the asthma one. I'd love to see the % of pro cyclists with asthma vs. other sports. A chronic respiratory disease definitely sounds like it should be hindering your chances at making the pro ranks.
more info here:
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/07/21/sports/EU-SPT-CYC-Tour-de-France-Legal-Doping.php
(edit) but there are also reports that endurance sports cause asthma:
http://www.cptips.com/respasm.htm
donrhummy
07-26-07, 08:59 AM
Always loved the asthma one. I'd love to see the % of pro cyclists with asthma vs. other sports. A chronic respiratory disease definitely sounds like it should be hindering your chances at making the pro ranks.
The better test would be to see how many had asthma as kids and then developed it as an adult. Not saying that can't happen but I'd bet 95% of the pros with asthma "developed" it as adults.
godspiral
07-26-07, 09:05 AM
I'll tell you what cements it for me - guys on the Rabobank board of directors (not the team board - the bank itself) weighed in as convinced that he'd lied to them. Bankers aren't usually apt to give in to speculation and sketchy evidence. These are guys who's life is built around being conservative. I think the bank had a lot more to gain from Chicken winning than they had to lose from him being popped for doping. They must have been dead certain of the facts before making this move.
Actually the conservative thing to do is to pull Ras out of fear some allegations might be true.
This contradicts the report of him admitting he was in Italy, or that the team had a thorough confrontation with him. We can't be sure he's the one lying. A lot of straws on the camel's back but still a rough decision.
islandboy
07-26-07, 09:05 AM
Think of the public relations coup these "conservative" bankers just pulled off - the "masses" are buying into the press controlled tour de farce and the bankers read the wave. :p You cannot buy the press coverage they got. We all worship the truth as printed in the news. :D
Interesting enough from what I understand this is more about tightening (read CHANGING) the rules during the race. These riders all PUSH THE LIMIT (it is part of their success) on the rules which gets them screwed when the rules change during the event due to PRESSure. :eek:
I'll tell you what cements it for me - guys on the Rabobank board of directors (not the team board - the bank itself) weighed in as convinced that he'd lied to them. Bankers aren't usually apt to give in to speculation and sketchy evidence. These are guys who's life is built around being conservative. I think the bank had a lot more to gain from Chicken winning than they had to lose from him being popped for doping. They must have been dead certain of the facts before making this move.
USAZorro
07-26-07, 09:13 AM
The better test would be to see how many had asthma as kids and then developed it as an adult. Not saying that can't happen but I'd bet 95% of the pros with asthma "developed" it as adults.
I'm not naive enough to think there's not abuse, but I developed situational asthma as an adult. I take meds for it, and there's no way that what I'm taking has given me any sort of an advantage over other riders. Given my experience, I'm not hasty to judge others.
I've never entered an official bike race in my entire life either by the way (for the inevitable person who would otherwise have jumped to conclusions and branded me a cheater). :o
donrhummy
07-26-07, 09:19 AM
I'm not naive enough to think there's not abuse, but I developed situational asthma as an adult. I take meds for it, and there's no way that what I'm taking has given me any sort of an advantage over other riders. Given my experience, I'm not hasty to judge others.
I've never entered an official bike race in my entire life either by the way (for the inevitable person who would otherwise have jumped to conclusions and branded me a cheater). :o
Yep, that's why I said I know it can happen for adults BUT if it really is somewhere around 95% that develop it as adults, then I'd bet that's way outside the "proper" percentage.
VT Biker
07-26-07, 09:26 AM
A team would not withdraw their star rider, especially if he was in yellow, because someone said 'oh yea i saw him in italy'............obviously there is more evidence than that. I mean if he was in Mexico he'd have a paper trail...visa, plane tickets, etc etc......if he really was there i'm sure he'd get his wife to run to the filing cabinet and get that stuff to show his bosses......
What i don't get is why he would lie? I mean,......surely you can dope in mexico?
How about credit card or ATM receipts. I mean, if I were in a country, I could call my bank or credit card company and ask them to provide evidence as to where I had transactions. Guess what - he can't. I mean, this is Rabobank right? What are the odds that Rasmussam held an account with Rabobank, and this idiot used the Rabobank account while in Italy.
VT Biker
07-26-07, 09:35 AM
I think all of the hoopla claiming that this was a conspiracy is ridiculous. Rasmussan was not singled out for any other reason than his own behavior. Those of you placing blame on the ASO or the UCI or even the team bowing into pressure are mistaken.
If Rasmussan was telling the truth, he would have been able to garner the evidence. Innocent people do not act the way Rasmussan has acted. Hell - if I were in the yellow jersey, I would have brought to that Monday press conference ATM receipts, credit card statements, my passport, cell phone records, you name it in order to prove I was in Mexico.
In fact, this d-bag lied on two fronts:
(a) He deceived the tested of the Danish team and the UCI by trying to deliberately take his grand old time about telling them where he was.
(b) He deceived the rest of us by claiming he was in Mexico when in fact he was in Italy.
And you are upset at the ASO/UCI? They at least took the time to investigate this to ensure when they did kick Rasmussan out that he was clearly caught. HAd they kicked him out before the Alps, you would have stated they should have taken their time to ensure he was guilty.
Pullleeaassee.....as I state..blame the f'n riders.
godspiral
07-26-07, 09:40 AM
yup kinda hard to pay for plane tickets in cash. Showing some trace of life in Mexico, and publicising the credit card statements he normally uses for air travel, and other finances could help show he's clean. That could be burdensome on him, but the disclosure only really helps if he's clean, and this allegation is wrong.
eandmwilson
07-26-07, 09:48 AM
I think all of the hoopla claiming that this was a conspiracy is ridiculous. Rasmussan was not singled out for any other reason than his own behavior. Those of you placing blame on the ASO or the UCI or even the team bowing into pressure are mistaken.
If Rasmussan was telling the truth, he would have been able to garner the evidence. Innocent people do not act the way Rasmussan has acted. Hell - if I were in the yellow jersey, I would have brought to that Monday press conference ATM receipts, credit card statements, my passport, cell phone records, you name it in order to prove I was in Mexico.
In fact, this d-bag lied on two fronts:
(a) He deceived the tested of the Danish team and the UCI by trying to deliberately take his grand old time about telling them where he was.
(b) He deceived the rest of us by claiming he was in Mexico when in fact he was in Italy.
And you are upset at the ASO/UCI? They at least took the time to investigate this to ensure when they did kick Rasmussan out that he was clearly caught. HAd they kicked him out before the Alps, you would have stated they should have taken their time to ensure he was guilty.
Pullleeaassee.....as I state..blame the f'n riders.
All good points, but my beef with this line of thought is, again, what has changed? Ras has BEEN dirty the whole time--I recall hearing about the potential suspension on NPR, of all places, over a week ago. Can't tell me they are on the cutting edge of cycling info.
It's the third week in July--they've (officials, team and UCI) had these issues/info for a month now. How long does it take to investigate a relatively straightforward issue? Everybody who knows now and took action now knew before the tour he was fishy. Why now, and not before the prologue?
This one eyewitness claptrap is too convenient to pull the yellow jersey. There must be more to it, or the officials are proving they must be incredibly lamebrain to have futzed this up for so long and just now take action.
McSpin
07-26-07, 09:51 AM
In today's world, it's pretty easy to prove where you were. There has to be dozens of eyewitnesses (not related to him) in Mexico, if he was there. Receipts, tickets, passports, etc are available to substantiate any claims he has. If I was innocent, I'd have all of them on the table, with a press conference to prove my whereabouts. Unless I see that shortly, he's guilty in my mind.
godspiral
07-26-07, 09:58 AM
phone records
marin1
07-26-07, 10:04 AM
So if we all agree Ras is guilty, then we must also agree Contador should be the next one kicked out.
adam
07-26-07, 10:04 AM
In fact, this d-bag lied on two fronts:
(a) He deceived the tested of the Danish team and the UCI by trying to deliberately take his grand old time about telling them where he was.
(b) He deceived the rest of us by claiming he was in Mexico when in fact he was in Italy.
I think it goes a lot deeper than this. You have to wonder if Rabobank and/or team management knows something a lot deeper than blood transfusions, EPO, etc. and that they do not want Rasmussan on the team any more when and if he gets caught.
Maybe catching wind of new technologies for testing? Maybe with all the pressure and questioning of Rasmussan's behaviour, whereabouts, etc. they thought 'sh*t, if this guy wins, people are going to continue to probe and probe and we know that he's not clean so let's shed him now before this turns into a Landis affair a few days/weeks/months after the Tour has ended'.
That way when we hear of whatever Rasmussan is on in a few months, he will be the fired ex-Rabobank rider that they took the high ground on vs. the Tour de France champion with pictures of a big Rabobank yellow jersey on the podium in Paris.
?!?
VT Biker
07-26-07, 10:12 AM
All good points, but my beef with this line of thought is, again, what has changed? Ras has BEEN dirty the whole time--I recall hearing about the potential suspension on NPR, of all places, over a week ago. Can't tell me they are on the cutting edge of cycling info.
It's the third week in July--they've (officials, team and UCI) had these issues/info for a month now. How long does it take to investigate a relatively straightforward issue? Everybody who knows now and took action now knew before the tour he was fishy. Why now, and not before the prologue?
This one eyewitness claptrap is too convenient to pull the yellow jersey. There must be more to it, or the officials are proving they must be incredibly lamebrain to have futzed this up for so long and just now take action.
The problem on both Rabobank’s and UCI/ASO’s side is the fact the technically speaking, Rasmussan was within the rules. He has only 2 violations with any organization, so theoretically he was innocent.
The problem was that these missed tests were all so completely suspicious, that it created a public relations nightmare.
Rabobank
Rabobank maybe should have dropped Rasmussan from the team prior to the event. But on what grounds. Clearly he was their best rider, and clearly, he under the by-laws of the ASO / UCI did not violate any rules. So they risked a public relations disaster as well as the chance they would be sued by Rasmussan for lost salary as well as the opportunity cost of being the KOM or GC. In addition, all parties involved were deeply trying to use this tour to prove how clean it was, and I am sure, Rabobank did not want to the first team to have to deal with this mess again.
Finally, they knew that without Rasmussan, Rabobank would be like FdJ or AG2R, a non-entity within the Tour. This was a climbers team, and built around Rasmussan’s climbing abilities. In these times where money is drying up, they wanted to prove competitive in the biggest stage in cycling.
What Rabobank was not counting on was the flood of other doping allegations and the timing of the Danish Team’s announcement Rasmussan was off the team. I am sure that the Danish team felt that this was payback for Rasmussan treating them with such disdain, and in fact, this announcement was what led to the entire mess.
ASO/UCI
These guys were stuck. They were unaware of the Danish National Team allegations prior to the start of the tour. Once they find out, what do they do? Under the letter of the law, they cannot just kick him out, since he did not violate the rules. And I am sure, they initially felt that if this is the only issue we face, fine. We can ride this out. But after Vino, Confidis, and T-Mobile, they could no longer take this guy leading the tour.
But once the flood gates opened, you could not let this one man continue. This Tour is in many ways the Catholic confession of the Tour. ASO & UCI wants to get it all out, get all the demons exercised, or else, how can they claim they are making any progress? I am sure they put pressure on Rabobank.
However, if Rabobank could have defended Rasmussan, they would have. Any one of us, be it either sponsor or team manager would have defended our guy in yellow if we could have. But Rabobank finally realized that they could not, and Rasmussan became at that point, more of a liability to the sponsorship than a benefit.
As others have said. What is going to clean this sport up is money. When it becomes clear that teams and riders cannot earn a living riding dirty, and that sponsors will demand from riders the utmost in terms of documentation that they are clean, we will get a clean tour.
In fact, I bet you are going to see some teams pop-up with much stricter rules about where you can live in the off-season. And frankly, why not? Most of us have to live near our employer. It seems to me, if I were Rabobank, I could state that you must live within 5-10 miles of this town, where our trainers and DS/Team Managers will have contact with you daily, test you daily, and ensure that all authorities can test you whenever they desire.
In addition, they need to alter the rules about inclusion in either the UCI or ASO events. Rather than have a strong line as to what is the number of allowable infractions and what is not an allowable number of infractions, you need to create it so that there is more leeway for judgment. Now, the argument for this is it could lead to abuse by organizers if they do not like certain riders or conspiracy theorists if for example, an American is kicked out and that puts a French rider in the lead.
However, to me, this is far less damning than the current situation with the doping allegations running sky high.
VT Biker
07-26-07, 10:19 AM
So if we all agree Ras is guilty, then we must also agree Contador should be the next one kicked out.
Well,
Contador was cleared in the OP scandal, and technically, he has been tested randomly I am sure by the authorities.
However - I find it funny when Phil, Bob et all were sitting there on Versus telling the audience that Contador, Evans and Leiphiemer were ridingg clean. Al at least tried to add a clause to the end of the conversation stating that is until one of them are caught.
I mean - for Paul to state that Contador must be clean because he was tired at the end if ridiculous. The guy has been the best climber aside from Rasmussan in the entire race. The only reason he does not have KOM points is because he has been chasing the Yellow Jersey. I will admit, his fading at the end of the stage yesterday is better than Rasmussan's acting like it was the end of a 15 miler on the local MUP. But lots of dopers struggle up the hills.
VT Biker
07-26-07, 10:23 AM
I think it goes a lot deeper than this. You have to wonder if Rabobank and/or team management knows something a lot deeper than blood transfusions, EPO, etc. and that they do not want Rasmussan on the team any more when and if he gets caught.
Maybe catching wind of new technologies for testing? Maybe with all the pressure and questioning of Rasmussan's behaviour, whereabouts, etc. they thought 'sh*t, if this guy wins, people are going to continue to probe and probe and we know that he's not clean so let's shed him now before this turns into a Landis affair a few days/weeks/months after the Tour has ended'.
That way when we hear of whatever Rasmussan is on in a few months, he will be the fired ex-Rabobank rider that they took the high ground on vs. the Tour de France champion with pictures of a big Rabobank yellow jersey on the podium in Paris.
?!?
My theory is that they got a hold of his banking records which showed he was in Italy the entire time. The reason they will not go public with this is because it very well could be an infraction of certain legal rights with regards to privacy. Obviously, Rabobank could go through your records if you bank with them. But they would be barred from law for using them in any manner without your express written approval. So I am guessing that Rabobank has the evidence he has been lying, the Board and Team know it, but cannot come out explicitly and state it.
I highly doubt they have explicit evidence of doping.
marin1
07-26-07, 10:30 AM
Well,
Contador was cleared in the OP scandal, and technically, he has been tested randomly I am sure by the authorities.
However - I find it funny when Phil, Bob et all were sitting there on Versus telling the audience that Contador, Evans and Leiphiemer were ridingg clean. Al at least tried to add a clause to the end of the conversation stating that is until one of them are caught.
I mean - for Paul to state that Contador must be clean because he was tired at the end if ridiculous. The guy has been the best climber aside from Rasmussan in the entire race. The only reason he does not have KOM points is because he has been chasing the Yellow Jersey. I will admit, his fading at the end of the stage yesterday is better than Rasmussan's acting like it was the end of a 15 miler on the local MUP. But lots of dopers struggle up the hills.
Yes but Ras was tested 14 times at this tour and passed them all. Also being cleared in the OP case does not mean you are innocent. I do recall a few other riders who were cleared and then later were found to be guilty.
eandmwilson
07-26-07, 10:31 AM
Here's my new theory, though it doesn't make sense: The powers that be are trying to avoid a second year of Floyd. Better to tube Ras now, then let him win and then stay under a cloud for who knows how long.
I'm not buying the public opinion momentum issue with Ras. There has to be more to this story than what has been released; there is no new credible information to since June that the authorities can produce to cause this. Again, why now? Hopefully we'll get an answer. One thing is clear--Ras did not plea bargain his way out to avoid being caught. He is making way too much noise for this to be a "deal".