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FOIX, France (AP) -French police detained Spanish cyclist Moises Duenas Nevado on Wednesday after he tested positive for the banned blood booster EPO during the Tour de France.

Police detained Duenas Nevado, who rides for Barloworld and was 19th overall in the Tour, from a hotel in the town of Tarbes, where his team stayed. He remained in custody Wednesday for questioning, notably about where he may have obtained EPO, a police official said.

Claudio Mansata, a Barloworld spokesman, said Duenas Nevado has pulled out of the race and was immediately suspended by the team. The seven other team riders still in the race started Wednesday's 11th stage.

"I'm shocked," Barloworld team manager Claudio Corti said in a statement. "The one thing I will say is that the team is not involved in this story at all, and we'll take severe action against anyone who damages our credibility and the image of our team."

Corti said a police search of the rider's room found "some banned medicines that were absolutely not supplied or prescribed" by team doctor Massimiliano Mantovani.


"I've asked the French police to fully investigate the case so that we can fully understand," Corti said. "He seems to have secretly used banned substances, hiding everything from everybody else in the team.

"It's terribly disheartening but, because the team is not involved in what has happened, we hope that the whole truth can rapidly emerge, so that we can take the necessary action and that Duenas can fully accept responsibility for what he has done."

It was the second positive EPO test this year involving a Tour rider, in a sport whose image has been long tarnished by drug use and other cheating. Spanish veteran Manuel Beltran - a former teammate of seven-time Tour champion Lance Armstrong - was sent home for testing positive for EPO after the first stage this year.

Pierre Bordry, head of the French anti-doping agency, said Duenas Nevado tested positive after the fourth stage on July 8 at Cholet, the site of the race's first time trial. The doping agency has replaced the International Cycling Union in handling doping controls at the Tour for the first time this year.

International Cycling Union president Pat McQuaid said he felt "great anger once again."

"I just can't understand when are these guys are going to learn," McQuaid told The Associated Press by telephone. "If the 'B' sample is positive, then all I can say is the guy's a fool. The net is closing in."

The 27-year-old Duenas Nevado, riding in his third Tour de France, recorded his best finish of 39th last year. Among his previous achievements were victories in the Regio Tour in 2007 and the Tour de l'Avenir in 2006.

McQuaid said the lure of glory in cycling's biggest race influences doping.

"The Tour is the biggest event in the world and people will take that risk," he said. "It's unfortunate. Throughout the rest of the year we don't get that many positives in other races."

It was the second dose of bad news for Barloworld during the Tour. The team's leader, Colombian rider Juan Mauricio Soler, pulled out of the race last week after injuring his wrists in a crash during the first stage. Soler was the King of the Mountains champion as the Tour's best climber last year.

The two previous Tours were also marred by doping, pressing organizers ASO and the UCI to clean up the race. Sponsors, such as longtime German backer T-Mobile, pulled out.

Last year, the pre-race favorite Alexandre Vinokourov of Kazakhstan tested positive for blood doping, Italian rider Cristian Moreni tested positive for testosterone, Iban Mayo of Spain was busted for using EPO, and race leader Michael Rasmussen was kicked out just days before the end for lying about his whereabouts to avoid pre-Tour doping tests.

Mayo was cleared by his national federation, but the case is still being contested by the UCI.

In the 2006 Tour, Floyd Landis tested positive for synthetic testosterone after a spectacular comeback ride that set the stage for his victory. The American was later stripped of the title after a long court battle.

Following Tuesday's rest day, Cadel Evans of Australia took a one-second lead into Wednesday's 11th stage, just ahead of Frank Schleck of Luxembourg. The 104.1-mile trek from Lannemezan to Foix features one category 1 climb up the Col de Portel.

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IainDaniel

Is it really a suprise that someone got caught cheating in this event. It is like baseball or any sport, they are all dirty.

Obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.

Michael Jordan

dg806

True. And why does it matter. Let them all dope and they are still on a level field during competition.

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Excite - Sports News


Jul 17, 10:01 AM (ET)

By JAMEY KEATEN

(AP) Riccardo Ricco of Italy of the Saunier Duval-Scott cycling team, right, is led away by French...
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LAVELANET, France (AP) -The Tour de France was thrown into chaos again Thursday after Italian rider Riccardo Ricco became the third rider to test positive for the performance enhancer EPO.

Ricco's Saunier-Duval team withdrew from the Tour and suspended all of its activities after news of the rider's test for the banned blood booster. For the third year in a row, the showcase race has been marred by doping.

Last year, Alexandre Vinokourov tested positive for a blood transfusion, Cristian Moreni was caught using testosterone and Iban Mayo - also with Saunier-Duval - tested positive for EPO before being cleared by the Spanish cycling federation.

Two years ago, American rider Floyd Landis was stripped of his title after using synthetic testosterone.

"I'm glad they got caught. The Tour needs to continue and get to the finish in Paris," International Cycling Union president Pat McQuaid told The Associated Press. "It's another blow to the sport but I have to see it in light of the fact that they're getting caught and going to be thrown out."


Ricco, a 24-year-old Italian who won two Tour stages this year, tested positive after the fourth stage, a time trial in the western town of Cholet.

Pierre Bordry, the head of the French anti-doping agency, announced the result, leading to the team's withdrawal shortly before the start of the 12th stage - a 104.7-mile run from Lavelanet to Narbonne.

"It's a team decision not to start the race," Saunier-Duval sporting director Matxin Fernandez said. "He's our leader, we can't act as if nothing happened."

Saunier-Duval is the first team to drop out of this year's Tour. Last year, two teams withdrew and race leader Michael Rasmussen was kicked out just days before the end for lying about his whereabouts to avoid pre-Tour testing.

Cofidis dropped out after Moreni's positive test, Vinokourov's Kazakh-owned Astana team was kicked out by race organizer ASO after he tested positive.

In an attempt to salvage cycling's showcase event, race organizers had pledged a tougher approach to combatting drug cheats at this year's Tour. Eight specially trained chaperones shadow riders after each stage, even climbing onto team buses, to ensure cyclists go to post-stage anti-doping checks.

As part of the clampdown, the French anti-doping agency tested riders before the race and found that some 20 had abnormal levels of hematocrit without exceeding the limit. High levels of hematocrit are indicators of EPO use but do not confirm it.

Ricco was taken off the Saunier-Duval team bus by police ahead of the stage and booed by spectators.

Ricco was the runner-up in the Giro d'Italia and is the biggest name among the three cyclists involved in doping cases at this year's Tour. He won the sixth and ninth stages and was ninth overall before the start of Thursday's stage - 2 minutes, 29 seconds behind race leader Cadel Evans of Australia.

Spanish veteran Manuel Beltran - a former teammate of seven-time Tour champion Lance Armstrong - was sent home for testing positive for EPO after the first stage this year. Another Spaniard, Moises Duenas Nevado, was detained by police and expelled from the race on Wednesday after testing positive for EPO - like Ricco, after the fourth stage.

Ricco had come under suspicion about what he says is his naturally high hematocrit level - the volume of red blood cells.

Following his victory in the ninth stage, Ricco said he has had high hematocrit levels "ever since I was little," adding "I hope soon that everybody will stop speaking about that."

Reached by telephone, the Italian cycling federation said it was waiting for details of Ricco's test before commenting.

Ricco's popularity in Italy rocketed with his two Tour stage wins, even gaining front-page coverage in the football-focused Gazzetta dello Sport.

The rider has said his idol was Marco Pantani - the last Italian to win the Tour, in 1998. Pantani faced doping allegations throughout his career. He died of a cocaine overdose on Valentine's Day in 2004.

The news on Ricco came as judicial officials continued to question Duenas Nevado. He was detained by police Wednesday in the southwestern town of Tarbes, at a hotel where his Barloworld team was staying. Police also searched his hotel room.

Gerard Aldige, the state prosecutor in Tarbes, told The Associated Press that police found "numerous small medical materials like syringes, needles, and medical drip bags which theoretically a cyclist should not have in his room."

Aldige said Duenas Nevado faced preliminary criminal charges for "holding and using poisonous substances or plants" and "prohibited importing of merchandise."

Other substances were also found, including capsules and gels, but that tests will be required to determine their composition, Aldige said. He said one medicine not authorized for sale in France was also found - though he did not elaborate.

Beltran, who rides for Liquigas, was kicked out of the Tour on July 11 after he tested positive for EPO.

In addition to Beltran, Floyd Landis, Roberto Heras of Spain and Tyler Hamilton - all former Postal riders during Armstrong's seven Tour wins from 1999-2005 - failed doping tests after quitting the Texan's team.

Some riders expressed dismay at the latest revelation of doping on the Tour.

"It's just amazing. It's irresponsible," British cyclist David Millar said. "This guy does not have any love or care for the sport.

"The unfortunate is that we are learning that things that look too good to be true are too good to be true," Millar added.

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AP Sports Writers Andrew Dampf in Rome and Jerome Pugmire in Lavelanet contributed to this report.

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