Rasmussen: ‘I was robbed of 2007 Tour’
- By Andrew Hood
- Published Jan. 24, 2012
- Updated Jan. 31, 2012 at 6:15 PM EDT
Michael Rasmussen (Christina Watches) says that he was “robbed” of the 2007 Tour de France and told journalists this week at the Tour de San Luis in Argentina that he remains bitter about what happened in that Tour.
Rasmussen says he’s still fuming about what happened in 2007, when Rabobank kicked him off the team while wearing the yellow jersey with just days left before arriving in Paris in what looked to be a sure victory.
“They committed one of the biggest injustices in sport history with me,” Rasmussen told El Diario Vasco. “I was robbed. According to the rules at the time, they had no reason to take me out of the Tour. The rules that are in place today are different. They applied to me rules that were introduced in January 2009.”
Rasmussen, now 37, was dogged by questions of his whereabouts in the weeks and months ahead of that year’s Tour. He was eventually handed down a two-year racing ban by the Monaco cycling federation.
The former world mountain bike champion insists he did nothing wrong and remains upset and bitter that he’s been forced to the sidelines of the sport he once dominated, at least in the high-altitude mountain climbs.
“It’s something I cannot change. I still have an open case against Rabobank. I know I will never win the Tour, but there was a time when I thought I could race it again.”
“Is all forgotten? I have an open wound and it could be another 30 to 40 years to completely forgot what happened, but I might not be alive by then!” Rasmussen continued. “I am still looking for the justification of what they did to me. I have carried on with my life, but I have a case against Rabobank in the Supreme Court of Holland on the 25 of May. I won the first hearing.”
Rasmussen said he’s asking for 600,000 euros from his former team, but Het Nieuwsblat reported that sum could be as high as 5.6 million euros.
FILED UNDER: News / Road TAGS: Alberto Contador / Michael Rasmussen / Rabobank / Tour de San Luís
Andrew Hood
Andrew Hood cut his journalistic teeth at Colorado dailies before the web boom opened the door to European cycling in the mid-1990s. Hood has covered every Tour de France since 1996 and has been VeloNews' European correspondent since 2002.