July 26, 2007 – Following the departure of Michael Rasmussen who was withdrawn from the race and dismissed by his Rabobank squad, Patrice Clerc, the President of ASO, and Christian Prudhomme, the director of the Tour de France, held a press conference in Pau before the start of the 17th stage.

The race organizers accept the responsible decision of the Dutch team. The other riders from Rabobank will be at the start. A new yellow jersey will be presented to the leader of the general classification at the end of stage 17.

The departure of Michael Rasmussen from the Tour de France…

Patrice Clerc: “We asked Rasmussen to explain to us in Pau with total transparency about the doubts about his preparation program and his whereabouts. The information offered by the rider was enough for his Rabobank team’s management to determine that he has been lying. That’s proof that he had no place at the Tour de France and that his behaviour demonstrates that there was a clear intention to cheat.”

Rasmussen At The Start Of The Tour…

Christian Prudhomme: “He should never have been at the start. But we would have known this in advance if we had full disclosure of all the elements relating to the rider. The UCI was aware of the matters [surrounding Rasmussen] as they had issued a warning letter on 29 June to Rasmussen. They should have allowed us to avoid this crisis.”

Patrice Clerc: “The big problem is that we have declared a unified fight against doping together with the UCI and the teams. This was not respected. We should have been informed about all the anomalies relating to Rasmussen.”

The credibility of the general classification rankings in the 2007 Tour…

Christian Prudhomme: “Today the general classification is more credible than yesterday. The departure of Rasmussen is the best thing that has happened to us these past few days. The most important thing now is that we give the Tour back to the hundreds of thousands of people who follow the race and love it. Now the Tour continues with riders who love their sport and are prepared to practise it with respect to the rules.”

The Future For The Fight Against Doping…

Christian Prudhomme: “We have to break every link of the chain, not only the riders who are the final part. Now we have to pursue the doctors and managers of the riders.

“When I see riders sitting down to protest against doping at the start of the race, it’s completely different to what happened 10 years ago. It’s the absolute opposite because, at that time, they were protesting against the [doping] controls. That means that we have a part of the path [to a clean sport] has been forged.

“In the future the access to our races, which will be determined by a sporting criteria, will be primarily determined by ethics. We will create a new set of conditions involving the institutes like the French Anti-Doping Agency (AFLD). We won’t give our confidence to people who no longer deserve it.”

Patrice Clerc: “We just want to kill doping. In this sport, the presumption of innocence no longer exists. That’s why we have to make sure we go all the way to achieve clarity. This must be done to reinstate the right of a presumption of innocence.”