By JAMEY KEATEN, Associated Press Writer
June 30, 2006
STRASBOURG, France (AP) -- 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 Comunidad Valenciana had its Tour invitation rescinded,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.
Updated on Friday, Jun 30,
2006 7:36 am EDT
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