Michael Rasmussen (cyclist)

Rasmussen began his career as a mountain biker, and he won the Mountain Bike World Championships in 1999 before becoming a stagiaire with the professional cycling team {{UCI team code|CSC|2001}} in 2001. There he secured a one-year contract for 2002, and following a string of good results in August and September, including his first professional win, he switched from CSC-Tiscali to {{UCI team code|RAB|2003}} in 2003. After being sacked by Rabobank in the 2007 Tour de France, Rasmussen got a contract offer from {{UCI team code|ASA|2007}}. The team's manager then decided that the move would be too expensive and thus Rasmussen was without contract.

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.

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.Shane Stokes, [http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/road/2005/tour05/news/?id=/news/2005/jul05/jul25news Magnificent seven for Armstrong], CyclingNews.com, 25 July 2005 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.John Stevenson, [http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/road/2005/tour05/tech/?id=/tech/2005/features/tour05/bikes4 Michael Rasmussen's Colnago Extreme C Special Pois], CyclingNews.com, 26 July 2005

File:Rasmüssen TDF 2006.jpg in the 2006 Tour de France]]

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 {{UCI team code|CSC|2006}}. 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.

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.{{cite news |url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/austin_murphy/07/23/vinkourov.subplot/ |work=CNN |title=SI.com – Spectacular kid – Jul 23, 2007 |date=2007-07-23 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121020193231/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/austin_murphy/07/23/vinkourov.subplot/ |archive-date=2012-10-20 |access-date=2010-05-12}} 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.{{cite web |url=http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/25072007/58/tour-de-france-rasmussen-tour-rabobank-wield-axe.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070912113224/http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/25072007/58/tour-de-france-rasmussen-tour-rabobank-wield-axe.html |archive-date=2007-09-12 |title=Rasmussen out of Tour de France |date=2007-07-25 |website=yahoo.com |publisher=Europsort (via Yahoo) |access-date=2017-07-22 |url-status=dead}}

Rasmussen was the center of controversy while wearing the yellow jersey in the 2007 Tour de France, when it was announced that he had been suspended from the Danish national cycling team at UCI World Championships and Olympic Games following missed doping controls.{{cite news |url=http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2007/jul07/jul20news2 |title=Tour leader dumped from national team |first=Laura |last=Weislo |date=2007-07-20 |access-date=2007-07-21 |work=Cyclingnews.com}} Rasmussen failed to report his whereabouts for a three-week training session in Mexico and was unavailable for testing during that period; for that he received a recorded warning from the UCI.{{cite news |url=http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/21072007/3/tour-leader-rasmussen-red-fresh-doping-allegations-made.html |title=Tour leader Rasmussen in the red as fresh doping allegations made |work=Yahoo! Eurosport |date=2007-07-21 |access-date=2007-07-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070810002854/http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/21072007/3/tour-leader-rasmussen-red-fresh-doping-allegations-made.html |archive-date=2007-08-10}} Counting these missed tests together, the Danish cycling union decided to ban Rasmussen. Rasmussen said: "I do admit that I've committed an administrative error. I was informed of this at the Danish championship two and a half weeks ago, so it's no news... It might be a surprise that it comes out right now."{{cite news |url=http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/07/20/sports/EU-SPT-CYC-Tour-de-France-Rasmussen.php |title=Tour leader Rasmussen admits error in drug-testing rules after expulsion from Danish team |newspaper=International Herald Tribune |date=2007-07-20 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070923050146/http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/07/20/sports/EU-SPT-CYC-Tour-de-France-Rasmussen.php |archive-date=2007-09-23 |access-date=2007-07-21}} The timing of the announcement led to speculation by Patrice Clerc, then chief of the Amaury Sport Organisation, which organises the Tour de France, that the UCI had leaked the news in the middle of the Tour to damage it, as part of a dispute between the two organisations over the running of the UCI ProTour.{{cite news |url=http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=features/2007/McQuaid_rejects_ASO_claims07 |title=McQuaid rejects ASO's claim that UCI is trying to damage Tour de France |access-date=2007-07-21 |date=2007-07-21 |first=Shane |last=Stokes |work=Cyclingnews.com}} This was rejected by the UCI president Pat McQuaid, who said the timing was the choice of the Danish cycling union.

According to a multiple sourced VeloNews{{cite news |url=http://velonews.competitor.com/2007/07/news/ex-cyclist-levels-doping-charges-at-rasmussen_12851 |title=Ex-cyclist levels doping charges at Rasmussen |first=Charles |last=Pelkey |date=2007-07-20 |access-date=2007-07-20 |work=VeloNews.com}} article published on 20 July 2007, mountain bike racer Whitney Richards accused Rasmussen of trying to get him to transport a box, which Rasmussen had told Richards contained his favourite cycling shoes, to his training base in Italy in early 2002. Richards alleged that the box contained packets of Hemopure, a bovine-hemoglobin-based blood substitute which is not currently approved for human use outside South Africa and did not become commercially available there until January 2006, and which might potentially have been used in a doping program. At the time there was no screening test for Hemopure; it is, however, banned by the WADA. Richards said he destroyed the Hemopure, at which Rasmussen is said to have grown angry and said to Richards "Have you any idea how much that shit cost?"{{cite news |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/more_sport/cycling/article2116022.ece |title=Rasmussen rides into new storm |access-date=2007-07-22 |date=2007-07-22 |first=David |last=Walsh |newspaper=The Times |location=London |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100529143103/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/more_sport/cycling/article2116022.ece |archive-date=2010-05-29}}

A second journalist{{cite news |url=http://velonews.com/article/12851 |title=Boulder Report: Fresh Doping Allegations Hit Rasmussen |first=Joe |last=Lindsay |date=2007-07-21 |access-date=2007-07-21 |work=Bicycling.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080213132557/http://www.velonews.com/article/12851 |archive-date=2008-02-13}} 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."

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. 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,{{Cite episode |url=https://www.npostart.nl/zembla/03-02-2008/VARA_101163342 |series=Zembla |title=Tijdbom Rasmussen |date=2008-02-03 |network=NPO |language=nl}} 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.{{cite web |url=http://sport.tv2.dk/article.php/id-7695517:michael-rasmussen-ude-af-touren.html |title=Michael Rasmussen ude af Touren |first=Anders B. |last=Rasmussen |date=2007-07-25 |publisher=TV 2 (Denmark) |language=da}} 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.{{cite web |access-date=2019-09-14 |title=Rasmussen sacked by Rabobank |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2007-07-26/rasmussen-sacked-by-rabobank/2514402 |date=2007-07-26 |website=ABC News}} 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,"{{cite news |url=http://www.bt.dk/article/20070726/SPORT03/707260314/1039 |title=Rasmussen til B.T.: Min chef er gal |access-date=2007-07-26 |date=2007-07-26 |first=Thomas Møller |last=Johansen |work=www.bt.dk |language=da |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930184925/http://www.bt.dk/article/20070726/SPORT03/707260314/1039 |archive-date=September 30, 2007}}Staehelin, Jacob. Michael Rasmussen: Jeg er grædefærdig, B.T. Tour section, p. 3, 26 July 2007. but later admitted lying about his whereabouts. Two days later on 27 July it was reported, that Theo de Rooij had resigned, effective once the tour was over.{{Cite news |url=http://sport.tv2.dk/cykling/tour/article.php/id-7722878.html200 |title=Theo de Rooij kaster håndklædet |date=2007-07-27 |work=sport.tv2.dk |access-date=2018-11-30 |language=da-DK}} 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.{{cite news |url=http://www.nos.nl/nosstudiosport/artikelen/2007/7/27/27071050rasmussenwaswelinmexico.html |title=Rasmussen was wel in Mexico |publisher=NOS |access-date=2007-07-27 |date=2007-07-27 |language=nl |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930230208/http://www.nos.nl/nosstudiosport/artikelen/2007/7/27/27071050rasmussenwaswelinmexico.html |archive-date=2007-09-30}} Rabobank backed the decision to withdraw Rasmussen but reconfirmed its commitment as a sponsor in cycling,{{cite news |url=http://www.nos.nl/nosstudiosport/artikelen/2007/7/26/26070940rabobankblijftactiefinwielersport.html |title=Rabobank blijft actief in wielersport |publisher=NOS |access-date=2007-07-27 |date=2007-07-26 |language=nl |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930220255/http://www.nos.nl/nosstudiosport/artikelen/2007/7/26/26070940rabobankblijftactiefinwielersport.html |archive-date=2007-09-30}} at least at the local level.{{Cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-cycling-tour-sponsors-idUSL272643020070727 |title=Sponsors reconsidering after doping scandals |last=Pretot |first=Julien |work=U.S. |access-date=2018-11-30 |language=en-US}}

On 17 December 2007, the Dutch law firm BrantjesVeerman confirmed Rasmussen had hired it to fight his dismissal from Rabobank.{{cite news |title=Wielrenner Rasmussen klaagt Rabobank aan |work=nrc.nl |language=nl |publisher=NRC Handelsblad |date=2007-12-17 |url=http://www.nrc.nl/media/article1857845.ece/Wielrenner_Rasmussen_klaagt_Rabobank_aan |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120904092715/http://www.nrc.nl/media/article1857845.ece/Wielrenner_Rasmussen_klaagt_Rabobank_aan |url-status=dead |archive-date=2012-09-04 |access-date=2007-12-17}}

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.{{cite news |title=Rasmussen receives two-year ban |work=BBC Sport |publisher=BBC Online |date=2008-07-01 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/cycling/7484492.stm |access-date=2008-07-02}} Rasmussen appealed the ban to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which upheld the ban on 22 January 2009.{{cite news |access-date=2019-09-14 |title=Sacked Rasmussen loses ban appeal |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/cycling/7845655.stm |date=2009-01-22 |via=news.bbc.co.uk}}

Rasmussen's suspension expired on 25 July 2009, and he took part in the Designa Grand Prix in Kjellerup, Denmark two days later, finishing in second place. Later that season, he won the opening stage, a time trial, and was race leader for three days,{{cite news |url=http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/la-vuelta-a-chihuahua-2-1 |title=La Vuelta A Chihuahua: Stages, Route Maps & Results |publisher=cyclingnews.com |access-date=2010-03-27 |date=2009-10-10}} in the Mexico's Vuelta a Chihuahua, as a member of Team Tecos Trek. The following season, he signed for the Italian Continental ranked team, Miche Silver Cross.{{cite web |url=http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/rasmussen-signs-with-miche-silver-cross |title=Rasmussen signs with Miche-Silver Cross – Cyclingnews.com|date=15 January 2010}}

On 30 July 2010 Michael Rasmussen got a personal sponsor in Christina Design London.{{cite web |url=http://www.mynewsdesk.com/dk/view/pressrelease/kyllingen-koerer-for-christina-racing-446057 |title="KYLLINGEN" KØRER FOR CHRISTINA RACING}} On 9 December 2010, Rasmussen and Christina Design owner Christina Hembo presented their new team {{UCI team code|CWO|2011}}. Hembo received a UCI Continental licence and announced the goal to become a UCI Pro Tour team by 2016.

On 31 January 2013, he admitted to the use of performance-enhancing drugs from 1998 to 2010 during a press conference.{{cite web |url=http://sporten.tv2.dk/2013-01-31-michael-rasmussen-jeg-har-snydt-og-l%C3%B8jet |title=Michael Rasmussen:Jeg har snydt og løjet |publisher=TV 2 |first=Lars |last=Fink |date=2013-01-31 |access-date=2013-01-31 |language=da}} He stated that he used EPO, growth hormone, testosterone, DHEA, insulin, IGF-1, cortisone and did blood transfusions.{{cite news |url=http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/michael-rasmussen-confesses-to-12-years-of-doping |title=Michael Rasmussen confesses to 12 years of doping |work=CyclingNews |publisher=Future Publishing Limited |date=31 January 2013 |access-date=31 January 2013}} He also stated that his cycling career was over and that he wanted to cooperate fully with the Danish anti-doping institutions.{{cite news |url=http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/13829/Michael-Rasmussen-retires-and-admits-doping-over-a-fourteen-year-timeframe.aspx |title=Michael Rasmussen retires and admits doping over a fourteen year timeframe |work=VeloNation |publisher=Velo Nation LLC |date=31 January 2013 |access-date=31 January 2013 |author=Shane Stokes}} The Danish Authorities stated that they would be looking to enforce a two-year ban, reduced from the normal eight-year ban in exchange for revealing what he knew about other illegal doping activities.

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.{{cite web |url=http://www.dif.dk/da/nyt/dif-nyheder/2013/september/20130927_rasmussen |title=DIF – Michael Rasmussen får to års karantæne |website=www.dif.dk |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303234842/http://www.dif.dk/da/nyt/dif-nyheder/2013/september/20130927_rasmussen |archive-date=2016-03-03}} This decision has yet to be ratified by Danish Anti Doping (ADD) or the UCI.

;1999

: 1st 20px Cross-country, UCI World Championships

{{div col|colwidth=30em}}

;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 20px 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

::1st 20px Mountains classification

::1st Stage 6

:20px Combativity award Stages 13 & 15 Tour de France

;2005

: 1st RaboRonde Heerlen

: 7th Overall Tour de France

::1st 20px Mountains classification

::1st Stage 9

::20px Combativity award Stage 9

;2006

: Tour de France

::1st 20px Mountains classification

::1st Stage 16

::20px Combativity award Stage 16

;2007

: Tour de France

::1st Stages 8 & 16

::Held 20px after Stages 8–16{{Efn|group=|name=a}}

::20px 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

{{notelist|refs=

{{efn|name=a|Withdrawn from the race after stage 16 while still leading general classification.}}

}}

{{div col end}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Rasmussen, Michael}}

Category:1974 births

Category:Cyclists at the 2000 Summer Olympics

Category:Cyclists at the 2004 Summer Olympics

Category:Danish male cyclists

Category:Doping cases in cycling

Category:Danish Tour de France stage winners

Category:Living people

Category:Cross-country mountain bikers

Category:Olympic cyclists for Denmark

Category:Danish Vuelta a España stage winners

Category:Danish sportspeople in doping cases

Category:Sportspeople from Holbæk Municipality

Category:UCI Mountain Bike World Champions (men)

Category:Cyclists from Region Zealand