The writing looked on the wall tbh but this is sensational stuff ! Absolutely desperate for the TdF though .. there's going to be repercussions to be sure !!

Lost for words.

Crazy days. These riders seem to have no real understanding on how solid the joint efforts of 95% of the pro peloton and all that supports it are to stop doping. I do feel though that once again we need to be reminded of the "correct process" for judging riders....

1. Why again is someone like Vino reported as 100% positive when his 2nd sample has not been analysed. It is likely that the guy has in fact doped but conviction prior to full facts and also playing it all out in public again does not help the sport. Obviosuly plenty of backhanders and payouts between the press and labs again.

2. Also why on earth does a whole team have to leave a race when one guy is suspected of doping. Poor kloden.... top 5 (again) never tested positive, riding on courage after 2 crashes and now not able to earn his living due to someone esles actions. Should have let him stay and race.

I'm glad that Rabobank had the cajones to do this and didn't just sweep it under the rug. It sounds like they investigated the rider and found impropriety and fired him accordingly. How many teams would have had the character to fire a rider on the verge of a tour win. How easy would it be to sweep it under the rug?

We are going through the painful soap opera period of cycling. The Festina affair was seen as an anomoly because no one really believed that there would be any real repercussions from that. As a whole the dopers in the sport, which appears to be a moajority, thought or were convinced that it was just an unlucky search that was the reason those guys were caught. Now we are seeing a hard line. We are seeing a sport that is scared. Where will the sponsors come from? What will happen to salaries? It was not too long ago that except for the very best, cycling was a low paying thankless sport. We could be returning to that status if the money leaves due to these continuing scandals. It is time for the whole cycling world to spin itself around and really change things. Whole teams leaving, Rabobank removing Rasmussen, these are not strong moves, they are necessary moves if the Pro-Tour and professional cycling itself hopes to survive. I am praying that this will happen.

To my untrained eye there looks to be a real difference between this farce and the festina affair. In '98 the peleton went on strike because of 'over-zealous' anti-doping policing - the only implication I could draw was they were all thinking 'There, but for the grace of God, go I'.

This time, there is a real backlash from the clean riders who are fed-up with having their names tarnished and careers threatened by selfish, doping individuals.

I just hope this is the start of a sea-change.

Like yourselves I am a true fan as well as an enthusiast. I spoke with my wife last evening about the booting out of Vinokourov. My initial and current thought is, Does the promise of fame and fortune mean that much to these individuals to got to such lengths?. If, (when), I finish my college degree and are fortunate enough to land a job in the career I want, if i knew in the back of my mind that I cheated my way through it wouldn't really feel as if i accomplished anything. How can these individuals be proud of any accomplishment in cycling when they know how they came by it? Gentlmen and ladies I feel we haven't seen the last of those who thinkk it won't happen to them. The ratio of people working to get doping out of the sport is eclipsed greatly by those who either want to cheat or those willing to help someone cheat, so stay tuned. No one has said that Rasmussen cheated but why the subterfuge concerning his whereabouts? The answer that will loom large is,"Well he must have had something to hide"! Remember one thing in life, either someone will see you cheat or someone knows you cheated other than yourself.I still love this sport!

The sport I love is yet again in turmoil, so much so that I can't sleep.

Zero tolerance is the only way forward, if you fail to give a sample when suspected of drink driving you are banned, miss a test and we should do the same, that system would of stopped this mess for sure.

I am afraid I cannot applaud what Rabobank have done, the timing is terrible, there is no evidence that Rasmussen has cheated, only lied, this to me is hard justice, even though my head is telling me he as cheated and is covering something up, I believe in innocence until proven guilty, we all have to believe that, its what society is built upon.

The B sample, this has always concerned me, it causes undue delays and in my mind casts a doubt over the whole testing procedure, this procedure is supposed to be a scientific process, why therefore do they need to double-check, I can't see the logic. What also frustrates me is the riders, who always ask for the B sample to be tested, even though they know they have cheated, they make me sick, but I guess that's the nature of a cheat.

I have been a cat 5 rider for this my second year in the states , I have been dragging friends from the office to the staff lounge in the middle of our work day to watch this tour to show them that there is more than basketball and the NFL to get the blood flowing. News from this years tour is making me a laughing stock. How hard is it to follow the rules. As a cat 5 racer we sign a declaration that we will follow WADA guidelines, and we are amateurs. I would no more cheat to win than I would murder a human being. How hard is it to follow the rules??

Rabobank are guilty of very poor judgement having not dismissed Rasmussen before the race.

Drug tests are there to maintain the integrity of the sport, they should not be optional, and I am very surprised that 'being in Mexico' was taken as a valid excuse by Rabobank in the first place.

Whilst many riders love the sport, it is also their job, and they have to get results to be sure of keeping their job, I they faced the sack because of missing a drug test then they wouldn't miss them, it may sound harsh but the penalty should be the same for missing a test and testing positive, that way no benefit from missing the test.

I'd applaud Radobank if I didn't think they were doing it to stave off the jeers and finger pointing. The rules permit a rider to miss two tests and Rasmussen did this (albeit twice with two different bodies) but other than the comments from his former friend there appears to be nothing more than circumstantial evidence of doping. If he IS doping on the tour then surely the samples he's given so far should say so.

To be frank, the samples STILL need to be tested and the governing body need to come out and either clear him or haul him over the coals. That way the loss of yet another (almost certain) tour winner can be pegged accurately to either doping or team issues.

To me, lying is cheating - if you have nothing to hide, why lie? Don't see why the UCI should set rules, but that they shouldn't apply to a particular rider (i also think it's so ridiculous to tell your team that you're in Mexico, and then be in Italy - i mean, the guy is well known in the circles he moves in - did he really think he wouldn't be found out??)

Read David Walsh's article in last week's Sunday Times - although it's very circumstantial, it seems to tell a certain story... and there's rarely smoke without fire, is there?

i think Rabobank have done exactly the right thing - i won't be sad if yesterday is the last time we see him in the peleton.

wonder what today will bring...?

rasmussen, tested NEGATIVE approx 15 times yet pulled out of tour

is it a wich hunt?

but this was Vino's first positive test (ie he has likely returned several hundred negative results in his career) - don't tell me this was the first time he did this....

so just because MR has only tested negative doesn't mean he didn't dope - and evading out of comp tests must have been done for a reason, no?

I say we should applaud Rabobank because while perhaps they should have been more aware of what was going on, they did take this difficult action and it is the sort of action that is needed. And I applaud also that they are going to continue in the race. Perhaps they can take a stage. I will be rooting for them and for the tour.

Where we work if you lie about where you are then you are in trouble for sure and you may, after a warning or two, get the sack. That is very different from being a drug user.

Similarly if you are allowed to come into work and then you are later picked up for doing something wrong then sure your head will be on the block but so should the heads of the people making the decisions. Rasmussen's only job was to ride a bike and he did it well, the rest of the decisions were his teams and the UCI's - people there should now be expecting to feel a backlash that will be costing them their jobs.

It is all too convenient to point the finger at riders but we can all see in front of our eyes what they have to go through, make the system better for them and stricter before the start, no rider should be getting booted out of the tour - this should be happening back before they got on the bus to london.

Rabobank deserve every bit of bad publicity that this is going to give them, they'd have been better to let the show roll and deal with it afterwards, it reeks of unprofessionalism the guy is not a proven drug user but he is being tarred with the same heavy brush. The trust issue is toss, they don't trust the guy but he is bringing home the bacon for them every single day? The fact is that you don't need to trust someone for them to do their job...

it

Come on Marino...the guy lied about his whereabouts and has missed a number of out of competition test! In the current climate you would think he'd be doing all he could to avoid this sort of publicity. He shouldn't have started the race in first place. Letting him start has made everyone look stupid