Tour chief calls for calm after first doping case

TOULOUSE, France (AFP) — Tour de France president Patrice Clerc has backed the news of the first positive doping test at this year's race, and said it proves the current system is effective.

Liquigas rider Manuel Beltran was taken away for questioning by police on Friday after confirmation that he had tested positive for the banned blood booster EPO (erythropoietin).

The start of Saturday's eighth stage from Figeac to Toulouse witnessed chaotic scenes at the start line media village as fears of yet another major doping scandal began to grow.

Clerc did not rule out the possibility of further cases, but he has called for calm.

The Frenchman who runs the Tour's parent company, ASO (Amaury Sports Organisation), is convinced, following a raft of new measures brought in to fight doping, that Beltran's case is isolated.

"There is one cheat less at the Tour de France, ...