RASMUSSEN TAKES RABOBANK TO COURT

Michael Rasmussen, the Danish rider who was withdrawn from the 2007 Tour de France while leading the race is sueing his former employer for wrongful dismissal.

Lawyers representing the 33-year-old cyclist and the Dutch ProTour team will appear in court in Utrecht, Netherlands, on June 5 for a preliminary hearing.

On July 25 last year, Rasmussen won the 16th stage of the Tour at Gourette in the Pyrenees, stretching his overall lead over Alberto Contador to three minutes and ten seconds.

That night, though, his hotel in Pau was besieged by the media as it emerged he had been withdrawn from the race by his team, Rabobank.

It transpired that Rasmussen had given incorrect information on a form submitted to the UCI so that he could be visited by random dope testers for out-of-competition testing.

Rasmussen had said he was in Mexico with his wife, who is Mexican. However, an Italian television commentator, Davide Cassani, revealed that he'd seen Rasmussen training near his home in Italy at the time he'd said he was in Mexico.

Rabobank viewed this as a bid to evade doping controls and withdrew him from the race and later terminated his contract. Rasmussen has not raced since.