Leader Rasmussen axed by Rabobank

COL D'AUBISQUE, France (Reuters) -- This year's Tour de France has taken a disastrous turn after race leaer Michael Rasmussen was sensationally kicked out by his own Rabobank team.
The 33-year-old Dane had seemed to weather the storm after not making himself available for four doping tests in the past 18 months and had won Wednesday's stage to all but seal overall victory.
However, the team has learnt that Rasmussen lied to them over where and what he was up to during the month of June when he was in fact in Italy and not in Mexico as he had told them.
"He broke team rules," said a team spokesman. "It is not even sure if the team will carry on in the race," he added.
Rasmussen had won two stages during the Tour, though, his presence at the race was questioned by several officials and from the race organisers as well.
He had already received two warnings from the UCI for failing to provide the sport's governing body with his personal schedule.
"I cannot comment on the matter now as I have not been notified by Rabobank," said UCI president Pat McQuaid. "I am just a little surprised that they did not discuss it with the UCI."
Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme said: "The important thing is not that he has been sacked by his team but that he will not be at the start of the stage tomorrow."
Rabobank director Theo de Rooy said: "Several times he said where he was training and it proved to be wrong. The management of the team received that information several times and today we received new information."
Rabobank said in statement late on Wednesday: "Rabobank is shocked and enormously disappointed that Rasmussen has lied about his whereabouts.
"Wrongly reporting whereabouts is a flagrant violation of UCI rules and is unacceptable," the bank said.
The bank added that its board supported the decision to take Rasmussen off the race and to dismiss him.
"Rabobank understands that the morale of the team has suffered and that the cyclists at this moment cannot decide whether or not to start tomorrow."
It said the development was "a dark page" in the history of the team. "Rabobank at this point does not plan to withdraw from cycling," the bank said, adding it would discuss the situation.
"What happened leaves me speechless. I am lost for words. A nightmare," board member Piet van Schijndel said in the statement.
Rasmussen's departure leaves young Spaniard Alberto Contador in the lead with Australian Cadel Evans in second.
Earlier, Rasmussen was jeered by the crowd after winning the 16th stage of the race, the final stage in the moutains. He had beaten Discovery Channel's Levi Leipheimer by 26 seconds on the 218.5km route from Orthez in the Pyrenees to retain the leader's yellow jersey.
The stage began without the Astana team, who pulled out of the Tour on Tuesday after their leader Alexander Vinokourov's positive for blood doping and ended with the news that Italian Cristian Moreni had failed a drugs test for testosterone. Moreni's Cofidis team subsequently withdrew from the race.
"I was booed but there is frustration from the fans and the peloton after Vino's positive test and that frustration came down on me," said Rasmussen.
"Now I understand what (Lance) Armstrong endured during seven years," Rasmussen said in reference to the seven-times Tour champion who faced several allegations of doping, all of which he strongly denied.
"I want to add that Vino's positive test shows the anti-doping system works. I have been tested 14 times and never been positive." Rasmussen has been at the center of controversy since the Danish Cycling Union announced last week that he had been dropped from the national team for failing to provide notice of his whereabouts during training.
Contador, also of Discovery Channel, finished the stage third, 35 seconds behind Rasmussen. The Spaniard was 3:10 adrift of the Dane in the overall standings before the evening's developments.
The start of the stage was delayed by 10 minutes after riders from the six French and two German teams protested against doping in the sport.