Danish rider Michael Rasmussen has been banned for two years by the Monaco Cycling Federation after he was expelled from last year’s Tour de France, the International Cycling Union (UCI) said on Tuesday.
“Yes, I can confirm it,” UCI president Pat McQuaid said when asked whether Italian media reports saying Rasmussen had been banned for two years were correct.
Rasmussen, 34, who lives in Italy, was sacked by his Rabobank team while leading the tour four days from the finish after it emerged he had lied about his whereabouts in training.
PHOTO: AFP
He has been facing a two-year ban since February when the International Cycling Union (UCI) called on the Monaco federation to discipline him.
The union said in February that after an extensive and careful investigation it believed the rider had acted in a premeditated manner and had prevented doping controls from being undertaken.
Rasmussen, who has denied doping, said last November he lied in the runup to the race because of personal problems.
The cyclist has demanded about 5.4 million euros (US$8.5 million) in compensation for his firing, and a verdict in the Dutch city of Utrecht was expected yesterday.
The team claimed he lied about his whereabouts before last year’s tour to avoid drug tests. Rasmussen says Rabobank knew exactly where he where was — in Italy and France. But that’s not what Rasmussen said for months, when he insisted he missed random pre-Tour doping tests because he was in Mexico to sort out family matters.
Last month, Rasmussen left his home in northern Italy to appear in a Danish court, where he testified against two Danish hackers who accessed his private e-mail and tried to sell its content to a Danish newspaper, which declined to buy the e-mails that reportedly showed Rasmussen was not in Mexico.
In a packed news conference broadcast live on Danish television, Rasmussen acknowledged he never was in Mexico and had lied to the International Cycling Union.
Rasmussen denied doping and lying to Rabobank, saying the team fired him although they knew his whereabouts. He said he had contact with several team members while in Italy, and the Dutch team also paid for an airline ticket to southwestern France.
After his Tour exit, Rasmussen was banned from Denmark’s national cycling team. He has refused most interview requests, but told Dutch daily De Telegraaf last December that he had considered suicide after being tossed from the Tour.
The cycling federation in Monaco is set to open disciplinary proceedings against him for violating anti-doping rules. No date has been set for that hearing.
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