Michael Rasmussen (cyclist)
stagiaire) | |||||||||||||||
2002 | CSC–Tiscali | ||||||||||||||
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2003–2007 | Rabobank | ||||||||||||||
2009 | Tecos Guadalajara | ||||||||||||||
2010 | Miche | ||||||||||||||
2011–2013 | Christina Watches–Onfone | ||||||||||||||
Major wins | |||||||||||||||
Grand Tours
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Medal record
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Michael Rasmussen (born 1 June 1974) is a retired Danish professional cyclist who competed in road racing and mountain biking. His most notable victories include four stages of the Tour de France (shared Danish record), one stage of the Vuelta a España and a win on the Italian classic Giro dell'Emilia in 2002. He also won the best climber classification in the 2005 and 2006 Tour de France.
Specializing in
In the
Biography
Rasmussen began his career as a
Tour de France history
2004
His first Tour de France was in 2004, in which he failed to get any stage wins but was third in the mountains classification, which was won by Richard Virenque. Rasmussen then agreed with his team that he could train alone and focus on the Tour de France for 2005.
2005
At the 2005 Tour de France his training paid off when he took the polka dot jersey as leader of the mountains classification on stage eight. The next day he won stage nine after riding alone for three-quarters of the course; he had broken away after 3 km and stayed clear to the finish 168 km later. He led over the first category 1 climb, the Ballon d'Alsace. In the penultimate stage (Stage 20), an individual time trial, he lost his third place after a fall at 4 km, then two bike changes, two wheel changes and a crash into a ditch. After his first fall, he lost confidence and his ability to descend at speed, according to Rabobank's sports director Erik Breukink. Rasmussen finished 77th that day and dropped from 3rd to 7th on the GC. However he needed only to finish the final stage the next day to assure his status as King of the Mountains.
Rasmussen rode much of the next day alone, saying he needed to clear his mind after the day before.[3] After becoming king of the mountains, Rasmussen wore not only the polka dot jersey, but polka dot helmet, shorts, gloves, and socks. For the final stage, he rode a polka dot bike made by Ernesto Colnago, founder of the Colnago company.[4]
2006
In the 2006 Tour de France, he finished well overall but he was not team leader; that honour went to the Russian, Denis Menchov. Rasmussen won the mountains classification for the second year and claimed stage 16 in the process. On Stage 16 he broke away after 4 km and took the Souvenir Henri Desgrange on the Col du Galibier (2645 m), winning 5000 euros. He led over all the climbs and won stage 16 by more than a minute on Carlos Sastre of Team CSC. In Paris he wore the polka dot jersey as leader of the mountains classification while holding his newly born child, who was in a polka-dot shirt and cap.
2007
In the 2007 Tour de France he won the 8th stage from Le Grand-Bornand to Tignes, taking the lead in the general classification and the mountains classification. On 25 July, he held a 3:10 lead on Alberto Contador, who was in second place for the yellow jersey. With four stages remaining, this made him favourite for the yellow jersey in Paris.[5] That evening however, he was withdrawn from the race and fired by his team Rabobank for "violating internal rules". Davide Cassani, an Italian retired professional rider, reported that he had seen Rasmussen in Italy in June 2007, a time when Rasmussen claimed to have been training in Mexico. The accusations were denied.[6]
Controversy
Rasmussen was the center of controversy while wearing the
Alleged doping in 2002
According to a multiple sourced VeloNews
A second journalist[13] confirmed that Richards had related the same story to him over two years ago, off the record, and claims that the incident is the one described in the epilogue of journalist David Walsh's recent book From Lance to Landis. Rasmussen had declined to comment on the story, saying only, "I cannot confirm any of that."
Removal from the 2007 Tour
On 25 July 2007, Rasmussen won stage 16 of the 2007 Tour de France. He had led the general classification (overall lead) since winning Stage 8, and with a lead of over three minutes over second-place Alberto Contador, he was all but assured of winning. However, hours after his win, Rabobank abruptly fired him and removed him from the race.[6] Previously, an Italian cycling commentator for RAI and former professional road bicycle racer, Davide Cassani, telling a story about Rasmussen's intense preparations for the Tour,[14] stated he had seen Rasmussen in the Italian Dolomites on 13 June 2007, cycling in the rain. According to the schedule Rasmussen submitted to the UCI, he should have been in Mexico at that time.[15] When confronted with this accusation, according to initial press reports, Rasmussen admitted the facts to his team leader, which resulted in Rasmussen's removal from the team and the Tour.[16] Rasmussen himself later first denied that he had admitted any such thing, stating that Rabobank manager Theo de Rooij "was a desperate man on the verge of a nervous breakdown,"[17][18] but later admitted lying about his whereabouts.[14] Two days later on 27 July it was reported, that Theo de Rooij had resigned, effective once the tour was over.[19] Rasmussen's in-laws later confirmed to the Danish newspaper BT that he had visited them in Mexico, but that they did not know where exactly he had been on 13 and 14 June 2007.[20] Rabobank backed the decision to withdraw Rasmussen but reconfirmed its commitment as a sponsor in cycling,[21] at least at the local level.[22]
On 17 December 2007, the Dutch law firm BrantjesVeerman confirmed Rasmussen had hired it to fight his dismissal from Rabobank.[23]
On 1 July 2008 the Monaco Cycling Federation, which holds Rasmussen's racing license, announced that he was banned from the sport for two years from his exclusion from the Tour de France; the ban ended on 25 July 2009.[24] Rasmussen appealed the ban to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which upheld the ban on 22 January 2009.[25]
2009 return
Rasmussen's suspension expired on 25 July 2009, and he took part in the Designa Grand Prix in
On 30 July 2010 Michael Rasmussen got a personal sponsor in
Doping admission
On 31 January 2013, he admitted to the use of
In September 2013 it was confirmed by Danmarks Idræts-Forbund (DIF) that he would receive a 2-year ban from 8 February 2013 to 7 February 2015 and would be stripped of results from January 2005 to March 2010.[32] This decision has yet to be ratified by Danish Anti Doping (ADD) or the UCI.
Major results
Mountain bike
- 1999
- 1st Cross-country, UCI World Championships
Road
- 2001
- 2nd Overall Jadranska Magistrala
- 1st Stage 2
- 2nd Overall Tour de Croatie
- 9th Gran Premio di Lugano
- 2002
- 3rd Giro dell'Emilia
- 4th Overall Vuelta a Burgos
- 1st Stage 4
- 4th Giro del Friuli
- 5th Giro del Veneto
- 7th Coppa Ugo Agostoni
- 7th Klasika Primavera
- 9th Japan Cup
- 2003
- 1st Mountains classification, Volta a Catalunya
- 4th Road race, National Championships
- 7th Overall Vuelta a España
- 1st Stage 7
- 7th Overall Tour of the Basque Country
- 7th Overall Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme
- 9th Clásica de San Sebastián
- 2004
- 7th Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
- Combativity award Stages 13 & 15 Tour de France
- 2005
- 1st RaboRonde Heerlen
- 7th Overall Tour de France
- 1st Mountains classification
- 1st Stage 9
- Combativity award Stage 9
- 2006
- Tour de France
- 1st Mountains classification
- 1st Stage 16
- Combativity award Stage 16
- 2007
- Tour de France
- 1st Stages 8 & 16
- Held after Stages 8–16[a]
- Combativity award Stage 8
- 2009
- 6th Overall Vuelta Chihuahua Internacional
- 1st Prologue
- 2010
- 8th Overall Tour de San Luis
- 2011
- 2nd Overall Tour de Serbie
- 1st Stage 3
- 4th Overall Tour of Norway
- 4th Overall Brixia Tour
- 8th Overall GP Herning
- 8th Overall Himmerland Rundt
- 2012
- 1st Ringerike GP
- 3rd Overall Tour of China I
- 1st Stage 1 (TTT)
- 8th Overall Tour de Serbie
- ^ Withdrawn from the race after stage 16 while still leading general classification.
Grand Tour general classification results timeline
Grand Tour | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Giro d'Italia | 45 | — | — | DNF | DNF | 48 |
Tour de France | — | — | 14 | 7 | 17 | DNF |
Vuelta a España | — | 7 | — | — | DNF | — |
— | Did not compete |
---|---|
DNF | Did not finish |
See also
- List of doping cases in cycling
- Sports in Denmark
References
- ^ a b Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Michael Rasmussen". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
- ^ Rasmussen ord for ord: Jeg har snydt, løjet og bedraget folk [Rasmussen verbatim: I have cheated, lied and deceived people] (in Danish), Politiken, 2013-01-31, retrieved 31 January 2013
- ^ Shane Stokes, Magnificent seven for Armstrong, CyclingNews.com, 25 July 2005
- ^ John Stevenson, Michael Rasmussen's Colnago Extreme C Special Pois, CyclingNews.com, 26 July 2005
- ^ "SI.com – Spectacular kid – Jul 23, 2007". CNN. 2007-07-23. Archived from the original on 2012-10-20. Retrieved 2010-05-12.
- ^ a b "Rasmussen out of Tour de France". yahoo.com. Europsort (via Yahoo). 2007-07-25. Archived from the original on 2007-09-12. Retrieved 2017-07-22.
- ^ Weislo, Laura (2007-07-20). "Tour leader dumped from national team". Cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 2007-07-21.
- ^ "Tour leader Rasmussen in the red as fresh doping allegations made". Yahoo! Eurosport. 2007-07-21. Archived from the original on 2007-08-10. Retrieved 2007-07-21.
- ^ "Tour leader Rasmussen admits error in drug-testing rules after expulsion from Danish team". International Herald Tribune. 2007-07-20. Archived from the original on 2007-09-23. Retrieved 2007-07-21.
{{cite news}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ Stokes, Shane (2007-07-21). "McQuaid rejects ASO's claim that UCI is trying to damage Tour de France". Cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 2007-07-21.
- ^ Pelkey, Charles (2007-07-20). "Ex-cyclist levels doping charges at Rasmussen". VeloNews.com. Retrieved 2007-07-20.
- ^ Walsh, David (2007-07-22). "Rasmussen rides into new storm". The Times. London. Archived from the original on 2010-05-29. Retrieved 2007-07-22.
- ^ Lindsay, Joe (2007-07-21). "Boulder Report: Fresh Doping Allegations Hit Rasmussen". Bicycling.com. Archived from the original on 2008-02-13. Retrieved 2007-07-21.
- ^ NPO.
- ^ Rasmussen, Anders B. (2007-07-25). "Michael Rasmussen ude af Touren" (in Danish). TV 2 (Denmark).
- ^ "Rasmussen sacked by Rabobank". ABC News. 2007-07-26. Retrieved 2019-09-14.
- ^ Johansen, Thomas Møller (2007-07-26). "Rasmussen til B.T.: Min chef er gal". www.bt.dk (in Danish). Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved 2007-07-26.
- ^ Staehelin, Jacob. Michael Rasmussen: Jeg er grædefærdig, B.T. Tour section, p. 3, 26 July 2007.
- ^ "Theo de Rooij kaster håndklædet". sport.tv2.dk (in Danish). 2007-07-27. Retrieved 2018-11-30.
- ^ "Rasmussen was wel in Mexico" (in Dutch). NOS. 2007-07-27. Archived from the original on 2007-09-30. Retrieved 2007-07-27.
- ^ "Rabobank blijft actief in wielersport" (in Dutch). NOS. 2007-07-26. Archived from the original on 2007-09-30. Retrieved 2007-07-27.
- ^ Pretot, Julien. "Sponsors reconsidering after doping scandals". U.S. Retrieved 2018-11-30.
- ^ "Wielrenner Rasmussen klaagt Rabobank aan". nrc.nl (in Dutch). NRC Handelsblad. 2007-12-17. Archived from the original on 2012-09-04. Retrieved 2007-12-17.
- ^ "Rasmussen receives two-year ban". BBC Sport. BBC Online. 2008-07-01. Retrieved 2008-07-02.
- ^ "Sacked Rasmussen loses ban appeal". 2009-01-22. Retrieved 2019-09-14 – via news.bbc.co.uk.
- ^ "La Vuelta A Chihuahua: Stages, Route Maps & Results". cyclingnews.com. 2009-10-10. Retrieved 2010-03-27.
- ^ "Rasmussen signs with Miche-Silver Cross – Cyclingnews.com". 15 January 2010.
- ^ ""KYLLINGEN" KØRER FOR CHRISTINA RACING".
- ^ Fink, Lars (2013-01-31). "Michael Rasmussen:Jeg har snydt og løjet" (in Danish). TV 2. Retrieved 2013-01-31.
- ^ "Michael Rasmussen confesses to 12 years of doping". CyclingNews. Future Publishing Limited. 31 January 2013. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
- ^ Shane Stokes (31 January 2013). "Michael Rasmussen retires and admits doping over a fourteen year timeframe". VeloNation. Velo Nation LLC. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
- ^ "DIF – Michael Rasmussen får to års karantæne". www.dif.dk. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03.
External links
- Michael Rasmussen at Cycling Archives
- Michael Rasmussen at CQ Ranking