Tour de France: Italian Cristian Moreni of the Cofidis team tested positive for the male sex hormone testosterone on the same day overall race leader Michael Rasmussen won the 16th stage of the Tour de France
The 34-year-old Moreni, Italian champion in 2004, failed a dope
test after last Thursday's 11th stage from Marseille to
Montpellier.
Moreni is the second Tour rider to fail a drugs test
following Kazakh Alexander Vinokourov's positive for blood doping,
announced yesterday.
Vinokourov tested positive after his victory in last
Saturday's time trial in Albi. As a result, his Astana team have
pulled out of the Tour. Vinokourov denies doping.
Last year's Tour champion Floyd Landis tested positive for elevated levels of testosterone on his way to victory in 2006.
The American denies any wrongdoing and is waiting to hear the ruling on his case by a U.S. arbitration panel. If he is found guilty, Landis will be the first Tour winner to be stripped of the title.
In today's 218.5-km ride from Orthez Danish Rabobank rider
Rasmussen beat Discovery Channel's Levi Leipheimer of the United
States to retain the yellow jersey. The demanding Pyrenees
mountain-top finish is widely regarded as the toughest stage of
this year's Tour.
Spaniard Alberto Contador, also of the Discovery channel
team, came home third 35 seconds behind Rasmussen as they fought
out a gruelling three-way battle for stage success.
Rasmussen's triumph all but secured overall victory in this
year's Tour as he extended his lead to three minutes and 10 seconds
over second-placed rival Contador.
The day started with a stern 20-minute protest from a group
of riders frustrated at the sport's recent doping scandals
surrounding Alexandre Vinokourov and Rasmussen, who was also booed
by the vast majority of supporters at the start line.
The day started with a stern 20-minute protest from a group of riders frustrated at the sport's recent doping scandals surrounding pre-Tour favourite Alexandre Vinokourov and Rasmussen, who was also booed by the vast majority of supporters at the start line.
However, following the race, Rasmussen was keen to focus on cycling matters. He told Eurosport: "My team did an amazing job and only left the last eight kilometres to me. But at the end of the day I'm very, very happy with the result.
"I had to ride to my own tempo in the closing stages and eventually he (Contador) got more tired than I did and then in the end I tried to take as much advantage as I possibly could.
"I've had an amazing day and I can't thank the team enough. I prefer not to think too much about overall glory until the final stage. Nothing's over yet."