Rider unable to start comeback race at Circuit de la Sarthe
Due to return to racing today in the Circuit de la Sarthe, Alex Rasmussen was instead told shortly before the start by a commissaire that he would not be allowed to compete.
The Danish rider expressed his frustration via Twitter, stating: “Just got taken out of La Sarthe by the evil and powerful UCI. Lifetime ban in effect by the UCI apperantly [sic]”
According to Sporten.dk, Rasmussen’s statement about a lifetime ban was a sarcastic one rather than literal. “I myself am very surprised,” he told the Danish publication. “We came yesterday, and Johnny Weltz [Garmin-Sharp directeur sportif] was holding my license and I got my start number. And the number I took this morning and was going to start, but a race Commissioner came over and said there are problems with the team’s insurance, and I can not ask to start.
“But he could not elaborate on anything, and I still do not quite know what the reason is. UCI has been impossible to get hold of to get further details.”
The UCI however responded to an enquiry from VeloNation on the matter, suggesting that his Garmin-Sharp team may have delayed in submitting paperwork.
“He was not eligible to race as the documents he was required to provide to Ernst & Young to allow registration were not provided in time,” stated UCI communications manager Devra Pitt Gétaz. “But the required documents have now been provided and he is now registered.”
That came too late to take to today’s start, but Rasmussen will hope to compete as soon as possible.
His Garmin-Sharp team has said that it will issue a statement shortly on the matter.
Whereabouts issues and eighteen month suspension:
Rasmussen was given a partially backdated eighteen month suspension in July 2012 over the whereabouts issue; these related to an unsuccessful attempt at carrying out a control on February 1st 2010, resulting in a warning from Anti-Doping Denmark, a late submission of whereabouts information in October 2010, and then a failed attempt at carrying out a control on April 28th 2011.
He explained the issues in an interview with VeloNation’s Ed Hood in July 2012. “When I rode for Saxo Bank in 2009/10 we had our own system for whereabouts, but then in 2011 the system changed to ADAMS (Anti-Doping & Management System) and I didn’t really fully understand it,” he said.
“That was what caused the problem when I was riding in Berlin at the six days [the first whereabouts violation – ed.]; I thought that you just updated the information – but you have to ‘submit,’ which I failed to do.
“The second one came about because I was a day or two late submitting what we call our ‘quarters’ – that’s the information regarding where we’re going to be for the next three months. The third one was my fault, I went back to Denmark from Girona and I forgot to update – no excuses.”
Initially cleared by the Danish Sports Federation’s doping tribunal on the grounds that the UCI had not followed its own rules in relation to imposing a suspension, the governing body successfully appealed that decision to the Court of Aribitration for Sport.
CAS ruled that the UCI did indeed break its own rules, but that this delay was not sufficient to drop the case. It handed Rasmussen a partially-backdated eighteen month suspension in July 2012, which expired on March 14th.
Rasmussen subsequently rejoined the Garmin-Sharp team and was due to make his debut today.