NPR: Cyclists Protest at Start of Tour de France Stage, As Race Leader Kicked Off Team

Cyclists Protest at Start of Tour de France Stage, As Race Leader Kicked Off Team

Word is that yet another cyclist at the Tour de France has tested positive for a banned substance, this time testosterone. Even the cyclists, particularly from France, are upset about all these cheating allegations. The Associated Press reports that a large block of riders refused to start today's stage at the scheduled time.

But the best thing about this latest version of "Everything you always wanted to know about doping but were afraid to ask a pharmacist" is the excuse from the last rider accused of cheating, Alexandre Vinokourov of Kazakhstan. Vinokourov tested positive for a banned blood transfusion after he won last Saturday's time trial, but he told French media that he hadn't cheated. "I heard that I made a transfusion with my father's blood," Vinokourov said. "That's absurd, I can tell you that with his blood, I would have tested positive for vodka."

Whoa. Talk about throwing Dad under the peloton.

(Tom's Update: The hits just keep on comin'. AP reports that Tour de France leader Michael Rasmussen was kicked off his team Wednesday, for violating the team's internal rules.

The expulsion ... was ordered by the Dutch team sponsor, was linked to "incorrect" information that Rasmussen gave to the team's sports director over his whereabouts last month. Rasmussen, who also has been suspended from the team, missed random drug tests May 8 and June 28, saying he was in Mexico. But a former rider, Davide Cassani, told Denmark's Danmarks Radio on Wednesday that he had seen Rasmussen in Italy in mid-June.

2:55 PM ET | 07-25-2007 | permalink

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