Chicken flies the coop

[Blonde]

Surely his flight ticket details (they are kept by the company and airport for months) and/or passport can be checked, to see where he was and when.

 

[fuzzy29]

It's like a lot of these scandals, the teams usually know more than they either say or are allowed to say. If he is correct, then surely he would have the proof that he was in Mexico at that time. Chances are the team gave him the opportunity to prove his innocence and he failed or the evidence against him was overwhelming. A pro team like Rabobank would not sack a star rider just because a someone said they saw him in Italy.

 

[andy_wrx]

There's a guy looks like Rasmussen works in our chippy...oh sorry, that's Elvis.

 

[spen666]

There's a guy looks like Rasmussen works in our chippy...oh sorry, that's Elvis.

is that a part time job, cos he drives the number 25 bus round here

 

[steviesch]

i saw him in our butchers - with sage and onion up his khyber...

 

[steviesch]

i notice our illustrious forum has the Rabobank colours at the top of the home page - it should be shut down immediately...

 

[Haitch]

Good decision by Rabobank to sack Rasmussen. The day before, Rasmussen, Theo van Rooij (the Rabo manager) and a lawyer held a press conference to explain that Ras had been in Mexico and had had difficulty informing the UCI. Not knowing better, Van Rooij backed his rider even when he was lying to him! Once he found out that Ras had actually been in Italy, Van Rooij had no option but to sack him.

Bad decision by Rabobank not to pull the whole team out. They should have set an example for others, like Codifis did. The team has got nothing to win in France, so why carry on riding?

But what the F did Rasmussen do in Italy to make him so good and test negative in all tests?

 

[Steve Austin]

i genuinely believe Rasmussen was clean. i really do. Just because he missed tests doesn't make him a drug cheat.

i think one of the reasons he performed so well was that the flat stages were very slow. So he had energy for the climbs. we seen him climb well before so we know he can climb and as the speed on the flat stages was slower, he wasn't nacked when the hills went up. well that could be why

 

[Two sheds]

Well, if he successfully sues Rabobank for loss of earnings and reputation by convincing a Court that he was where he said he was and had reaonable explanations for missing four out of competion tests, we'll know you were right.

 

[laurence]

Steve, i agree with you... he was just stupid and arrogant. i went off him when i saw the interview on itv4 (i think) where they kept asking if he was guilty of the accusations about giving drugs to a former MTB rider and it took several goes before he said he denied the accusations... i did see a quote where he said he wouldn't confirm it, but didn't actually deny it. this all added to the pressure that kept him in the spotlight. he didn't make friends with the journalists by being so evasive and they kept snapping because they could smell blood.

oh well... it'll all come out in the wash.

L

 

[peejay78]

reports suggest soler might not be clean...

 

[Steve Austin]

Where are these reports peejay?

I can't find anything to suggest he may have failed a test, other than some spurious threads on forums.

 

[Joe]

http://www.cyclingpost.com/tour/article_005202.shtml

Not much to go on but...

11am press conference, I take it that's French time. Are they behind or in front of us?

 

[Steve Austin]

in evolutionary times, i would suggest the french are behind us.

So nothing confirmed at all, just a report of rumour in the danish media.

Don't you just love the media!

 

[Smokin Joe]

Eurosport are carrying the same story -

http://www.cyclingpost.com/tour/article_005202.shtml