Rasmussen sacked, out of Tour de France

Col d'Aubisque (France): Tour de France overall leader Michael Rasmussen was sacked by his team Rabobank on Wednesday.

The Dane will not start Thursday's 17th stage of the race after his team said the rider had lied about his training whereabouts in June.

"He has violated the team's rules," a Rabobank spokesman said.

Rasmussen had already received two warnings from the UCI for failing to provide the sport's governing body with his personal schedule.

"I cannot comment on the matter now as I have not been notified by Rabobank," UCI president Pat McQuaid said.

"I am just a little surprised that they did not discuss it with the UCI." Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme said: "The important thing is not that he has been sacked by his team but that he will not be at the start of the stage tomorrow."

Rabobank is a Dutch bank and on Dutch TV a team spokesman was quoted as saying: "It is not known if the rest of the team will start on Thursday for the 17th stage."

Rabobank director Theo de Rooy said: "Several times he said where he was training and it proved to be wrong. The management of the team received that information several times and today we received new information."

Rasmussen's dismissal is the latest and possibly most damaging blow to the Tour's credibility.

Rabobank said in statement late on Wednesday: "Rabobank is shocked and enormously disappointed that Rasmussen has lied about his whereabouts."

The bank said Rasmussen had been issued a warning for reporting his whereabouts to the UCI late, but it had turned out that he had also been in a different place than he had reported to the UCI.

"Wrongly reporting whereabouts is a flagrant violation of UCI rules and is unacceptable," the bank said.

The bank added that its board supported the decision to take Rasmussen off the race and to dismiss him.

"Rabobank understands that the morale of the team has suffered and that the cyclists at this moment cannot decide whether or not to start tomorrow."

It said the development was "a dark page" in the history of the team.

"Rabobank at this point does not plan to withdraw from cycling," the bank said, adding it would discuss the situation.

"What happened leaves me speechless. I am lost for words. A nightmare," board member Piet van Schijndel said in the statement.