Tour Controversy

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Ullrich, Basso barred from Tour de France

Jun. 30, 2006. 08:33 AM

ASSOCIATED PRESS

STRASBOURG, France — Favorites Jan Ullrich, Ivan Basso and dozens of other cyclists were barred Friday from the Tour de France in a doping scandal, causing a massive upheaval on the eve of cycling's premier race.

Tour director Christian Prudhomme said team managers had agreed that riders implicated in a Spanish drug scandal would not be allowed in the race that starts Saturday.

Earlier, the T-Mobile team suspended Ullrich, fellow rider Oscar Sevilla and sporting director Rudi Pevenage because of the probe.

Basso and Ullrich — a five-time Tour runner-up who has spent most of his career in Lance Armstrong's shadow — were among 56 cyclists named in a Spanish probe as having contact with a doctor charged in connection with alleged doping, a Spanish radio station reported Thursday.

Cadena SER said the Civil Guard had decoded the names from notes taken by Dr. Eufemiano Fuentes. Other names included American Tyler Hamilton, Colombian Santiago Botero and Spaniards Francisco Mancebo, Joseba Beloki, Roberto Heras, Santi Perez and Jose Enrique Gutierrez, the station reported.

The radio station did not detail the kind of contact the cyclists had with Fuentes.

Two Spanish cycling teams — Astana-Wurth and Comunidad Valenciana — have been implicated. Comunidad Valenciana had its Tour invitation rescinded, but the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled Thursday that the Astana-Wurth team — which includes favorite Alexandre Vinokourov — could not be excluded from the race.

Spanish authorities say they have a list of riders suspected in a doping scandal, but have not released specific names.

Fulgencio Sanchez, the head of the Spanish Cycling Federation, confirmed that the federation received a Civil Guard report that named more than 50 professional cyclists from a Spanish court probe. The report, he said, has also been sent to the International Cycling Union.

"We're going to look into it very carefully" to see if any action was required, Sanchez told The Associated Press. He declined to give more specific details from the report.

T-Mobile received information implicating Ullrich, Sevilla and Pevenage from Tour de France organizers, including documents from the Spanish government, team spokesman Luuc Eisenga said.

"The only thing I can tell you is that the information is clear enough and didn't leave any doubt," he said.

[mister slippery]

Jesus.

that really sucks for Jan Ullrich. so long finishing behind Lance, finally Lance retires and now this?

drugs.