UCI Accused of Not Following its Own Rules

Filed in archive Biking on July 26, 2007

On the heels of Danish cyclist, Michael Rasmussen's expulsion from the tour de France by his own team, the Tour director blamed the International Cycling Union for not obeying by its own rules. The Rabobank team sent Rasmussen home after he failed to disclose where he trained, which, of course, lead to doping allegations.

But the International Cycling Union has said it plans to scrap the rule that keeps a rider from competing in major tours after missing a doping test.

Article 220 of the UCI's anti-doping rules says: "In case of a recorded warning or a missed test in a period of 45 days before the start of a major Tour, the rider is not allowed to participate in that Tour." The major tours are of France, Italy and Spain.

"It would have been good if this rule had been applied," Tour boss Christian Prudhomme said Thursday after the Tour's 17th stage. "If the rule had been applied, it would have avoided a lot of troubles for us."

UCI president Pat McQuaid said the rule was "unjust," because a rider could be excluded for being even a day late in communicating his whereabouts.

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