Velonews reported recently that had the Tour organizers known about Rasmussen’s missed doping tests they might have prevented him from taking part in the Tour. Further, it appears that the UCI knew about it, but did not require Rabobank to pull Rasmussen from the squad:
So, what’s worse for the tour- to DQ the yellow jersey wearer mid-tour now that they have this information, or to embroil themselves in another post-race legal battle over who the winner of the Tour is? My bet is that that if Rasmussen wins the tour, whoever finishes in second will immediately launch a lawsuit claiming they are the rightful winner.
He’s going down… maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the next two years.
I think that the Tour organizers are quietly pissing themselves over the results of the last two days. They were all likely hoping that his days in yellow would be over after the ITT, and that this wouldn’t become an issue. Now that the prospect of Rasmussen carrying the yellow jersey all the way to Paris is becoming more possible I can only imagine the dinner conversations at the executive dinner table.
Back in '99, Pantani woke up, the vampires got his blood, he was over 50%, didn’t start the stage. All this while he was leading the race. I think that sometime in the next few days that will happen with Ras.
Do you have proof of that? There is apparently documented proof of the missed random drug screens, which should have been grounds for exclusion from the tour.
Where’s the positive test during the tour again??? He didn’t keep his where abouts up to date, and the orginizations saw fit to give him a slap on the wrist for it. They are not giving him a positive test for it, and this old allegation is gone and buried. It just makes for good press now, but there will be no real proof left over from that time… SO unless he tests positive during the tour ( I would guess that he is the most tested guy in the tour this year too), I don’t see that he is going anywhere, except to Paris, along with the rest of the guys that are dam glad the microscope is not on them…
You’re missing the point. 4 missed screens in the past two years is equal to a positive doping violation (actually, three is). At a minimum it was a code of conduct violation. In either case, he shouldn’t have even started the tour. What the point in having rules, if they’re not enforced? Whether Rasmussen is a cheat or not is not my question though. Both the UCI and the Tour organizers felt that this was important enough that they felt he should not be in the Tour, which is pretty solid ground for a lawsuit should he eventually win the Tour. is this where you’d like to see cycling go?
Let him finish, there is no guarantee that he wins, so they might not even need to get into the lawsuit. If he finishes 2nd, it isn’t a big deal, right? At least it won’t make the evening news like Floyd did to hurt the sport with the general public.
Velonews reported recently that had the Tour organizers known about Rasmussen’s missed doping tests they might have prevented him from taking part in the Tour. Further, it appears that the UCI knew about it, but did not require Rabobank to pull Rasmussen from the squad:
So, what’s worse for the tour- to DQ the yellow jersey wearer mid-tour now that they have this information, or to embroil themselves in another post-race legal battle over who the winner of the Tour is? My bet is that that if Rasmussen wins the tour, whoever finishes in second will immediately launch a lawsuit claiming they are the rightful winner.
Good post…let him finish because he is about to get his ass kicked anyway. The top ten is so loaded right now. There is no way this guy will hold up.
They are probably all on drugs. But…I see your point. It is the tours fault they didn’t pull him
Dude what is your deal with alcohol? Are you an alcoholic or what? The majority (not all) of the worlds best athletes do not drink before a race or training like you do. Why don’t you lay o ff the bottle and see what your potential is. I saw your earlier post. If you have to have 5 beers to train well, you have a prob. Please tell me you were joking??!!!
It is impossible to tell from performance if someone is on drugs or not. Nobody knows what the limits are of human performance without them.
OK, that’s a loaded statement please help me with between the lines, or where did that quote come from?
My post was in reference to Floyd blowing away a stage because he said they drank Jack the night before,then won. 'Boosts Testoseterone" I can train well without 5 beers the night before, but better with them. Most of the time.
I’d be happy to be wrong on this one, but I think Rasmussen will hold up, sadly. He’s clearly the best, most consistent climber in the race and has not been put on the defensive once. If Levi had been able to keep up today, maybe.
I see Rasmussen (And it KILLS me to say this) puting 2-3 mins on everyone over the next two days and then holding on for dear life in the final TT to win the thing.