Tour De France: Rasmussen's Vanishing Act Tests Rivals' Patience

"Trust me," Michael Rasmussen almost pleaded to a press conference not long after taking the yellow jersey in the Alps and yesterday trust in the maillot jaune was at the heart of the latest doping storm to hit the Tour as the Pyrenean stages drew near.

Rasmussen refused to comment on an allegation that an artificial form of haemoglobin - which can be used to increase red cell count and enhance performance - was found in a box being delivered to him by an American cyclist, Whitney Richards, in 2002. "I cannot confirm any of that. I know his name, yeah," he said after yesterday's stage.

There was also some doubt about how many times the Tour de France leader had failed to clarify his whereabouts for out-of-competition testing. The Danish Cycling Federation announced late on Thursday night that it would not be selecting the little climber for the world road race championships or the Olympics because he had failed to give his whereabouts for two out-of-competition tests in May and June.

"One warning is one too many," said the federation's president, Tom Lund, yesterday, adding the proviso: "We do not suspect him of doping. We have ethical rules that everyone must respect and we do not feel Michael's behavior meets that standard." The International Cycling Union said yesterday that while it respected the DCF's position, Rasmussen could not be stopped from competing. A further instance of failing to make his whereabouts known would result in disciplinary proceedings . Rasmussen said yesterday he had received two warnings from the ICU, one in March 2006. "I forgot to send in my second quota of information and they issued a warning on March 24." The second warning, he said, came on "29 or 26 June this year" and was followed by a further warning from the DCF.

The confusion may lie here as, according to Rasmussen, the DCF and ICU share a database, and the episode should count as a single "strike". He terminated his press conference without speaking about the alleged episode on May 8 referred to by the Danish federation.

Yesterday, when the Tour de France director, Christian Prudhomme, said he would make an announcement before the stage began, the speculation was that Rasmussen might not be permitted to start but instead Prudhomme had the air of a man frustrated by events beyond his control, like his predecessor, Jean-Marie Leblanc, in the early stages of the Festina scandal in 1998.

Prudhomme said Rasmussen had missed out-of-competition tests on May 8 and June 28 and received a warning from Anne Gripper, the I CU's head of anti-doping, on June 29. Three infringements would be considered equal to a positive test, so Rasmussen was not considered to have done anything wrong.

Rasmussen had been blood-tested twice before the Tour, said Prudhomme, on June 30 and July 5, and once on July 17. All three tests were negative. As the rider in the yellow jersey, he had also been urine tested on July 15, 17, 18 and 19 . The results for those tests are not available. "Is there any further information that might explain [the Danish federation's] sanction?" asked the Tour organizer. "Give us that information now ."

The managers of the French teams were particularly critical of the Dane. Jean-Rene Bernaudeau of Bouygues Telecom said a rider in Rasmussen's situation in his team would not be allowed to start the Tour, and Marc Madiot of La Francaise des Jeux described the Dane's actions as "more than questionable". Asked whether he felt he could trust Rasmussen, Madiot 's answer spoke volumes about the sport's state . "Can you trust anyone in cycling?"