Just when the race was getting interesting at the Tour de France, another rider was kicked out for doping.
The 11th-stage victory yesterday by Norwegian veteran Kurt-Asle Arvesen took a back seat to the arrest of Spain's Moises Dueñas Nevado after he tested positive for the banned performance enhancer EPO in the second doping bust this Tour.
“I just can't understand when these guys are going to learn,” International Cycling Union President Pat McQuaid said by phone. “If the 'B' sample is positive, then all I can say is the guy's a fool. The net is closing in.”
“I'm very, very sorry for the image of cycling,” said Cadel Evans of Australia, lamenting the case that overshadowed his first ride in the yellow jersey on the 104.1-mile stage from Lannemezan to Foix.
Before the stage began, police swept into the hotel in Tarbes where Dueñas Nevado's Barloworld team was staying. They detained him and seized unspecified “banned medicines” from his room, team officials said.
The 27-year-old Spaniard, riding in his third Tour de France, tested positive after the fourth-stage time trial in Cholet on July 8, said Pierre Bordry, head of the French anti-doping agency.
Dueñas Nevado, who had been 19th overall, was immediately suspended by his team and ousted from the race.
– UNION-TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICES
