Contador says Rasmussen mistreated
Contador says Rasmussen mistreated
By Agence France Presse
Tour de France winner Alberto Contador said Thursday that the forced exit of Danish cyclist Michael Rasmussen, which paved the way for his own victory, was fundamentally unfair and set a bad precedent for the sport.
“I don’t know what is really behind it, but I do know that what should not be possible is to be told in the middle of the race that you can’t participate when there was no problem at the beginning,” Contador said in an interview with radio Cadena Ser.
“I would have liked to have won in another way,” he added.
Rasmussen was kicked off the Tour by his Rabobank team while leading with four days left for allegedly lying about his whereabouts before the race to evade drug testers.
He missed random drug tests in May and June, saying he had been in Mexico.
But a former Italian rider-turned-reporter said he saw him in Italy at the time.
His expulsion was one of four doping scandals to hit the 94th Tour de France, cycling’s biggest event.
Contador, 24, rejected accusations made earlier this week by German doping expert Werner Franke that he was also involved in doping by pointing out that he has not failed a doping test.
“Now you have to prove that you are innocent without being a culprit but what you need to do is devote yourself to doing things well,” he said.
Franke bases his claim on documents he says are in his possession from the Spanish police’s Operación Puerto inquiry into Madrid gynecologist Eufemiano Fuentes, the doctor alleged to have masterminded doping programmes for athletes.
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