Tour de France hit by new drugs scandal
NARBONNE, France (Reuters) - The Tour de France lurched into another doping crisis on Thursday when Italian climbing specialist Riccardo Ricco tested positive for the blood-boosting drug EPO.
Following last year's scandal-hit race, organisers were hoping for a clean event but their hopes were dashed when three riders tested positive for EPO (erythropoietin) in cycling's blue-riband event.
The 24-year-old Ricco, runner-up in the Giro d'Italia and winner of two stages on the Tour, was tested after the fourth stage. He denied any wrongdoing.
His Saunier Duval team pulled out of the race following the announcement by the French Anti-Doping Agency (AFLD).
"This is a decision of the team and is not dictated by (Tour organisers) ASO," Saunier Duval sports director Matxin Fernandez told reporters. "We suspend the activities of the team until we understand what has happened."
Ricco is the third rider to test positive for EPO on the 2008 Tour after Spaniards Manuel Beltran and Moises Duenas Nevado.
Reuters reporters witnessed police arriving at the Saunier Duval team's bus in southwestern Lavelanet before the start of Thursday's 12th stage to Narbonne. Ricco then left in a team car escorted by police.
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He was arrested three kms from the team bus by the police and taken into custody, French prosecutor Antoine Leroy said.
Leroy added that the team's car and buses were being searched by the police not far from the Spanish border.
"Riccardo Ricco has been in custody since two p.m. at the gendarmerie of Mirepoix. He is calm for the moment. He will be presented before the investigating judge on Friday and could be put under official investigation," said Leroy.
Under a two-month-old French law, a rider is liable in criminal law for using and detaining banned substances and not just for trafficking.
Organisers still claimed they were scoring points in the fight against doping.
"We're getting closer to an acceptable situation. To me this is a message of hope which means that we're winning the game against doping," said Patrice Clerc, the president Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO).
"We're building the foundations for a new professional cycling and we're closer than ever to achieving it." Continued...
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