Rabobank should have pulled cyclist Rasmussen before Tour, inquiry finds

0 Comments | AFP, November, 2007

THE HAGUE (AFP) — The Rabobank team should not have allowed Danish cyclist Michael Rasmussen start this year's Tour de France, an independent inquiry set up by the team to investigate his exclusion from the race said on Monday.

Rasmussen, a former two-time winner of the Tour de France's polka dot jersey for the best climber, was pulled out of this year's race by Rabobank while wearing the fabled yellow jersey due to major doping suspicions arousing from revelations that he had missed several random doping controls.

The Vogelzang commission, named after the former Police chief Rabobank appointed to lead the inquiry, found that Rasmussen's exclusion from the race in the final week was not only justified but should have happened earlier.

"Appearances weren't...