For a guy reputed for his almost maniacal attention to detail, the least
you can say about Michael Rasmussen is that his memory leaves a lot to
be desired.
First Rasmussen forgets to inform the UCI of his whereabouts for out of
competition dope testing. Then, today, in the press conference arranged
to excuse and explain his mistake, the Dane's powers of recollection
fail him again.
The setting was Pau's Palais Beaumont, the time around half-past two.
Rasmussen had just explained that, yes, he missed the April 1st deadline
for mailing details of his whereabouts in the second quarter of 2006,
but that it was okay, because he'd contacted the UCI within 24 hours.
Actually, Rasmussen was more specific: he said that he'd both faxed and
called the UCI. Who had he talked to? No less than UCI anti-doping
manager, Anne Gripper, Rasmussen said this afternoon.
That seemed to be that. On went the questions, none dwelling on that
April 2 conversation. But Rasmussen's answer had set some brains
ticking. He said he spoke to Anne Gripper, right? What, the same Anne
Gripper who made headlines recently by declaring that she wanted to
unmask cycling's "Men in Black"? The same Anne Gripper who, hang
on...only joined the UCI from the Australian Anti-doping Agency on
October 17, 2006, i.e. 198 days after Rasmussen's purported phone call.
Within an hour of Rasmussen walking out of the Palais Beaumont, Gripper
had been contacted. She confirmed that it was "impossible" that she and
Rasmussen could have spoken on that date. "I had a long vacation from
January to October 2006 after my work in Australia. [What Rasmussen
says] is strange," she commented.
Rabobank manager Theo de Rooij, who sat alongside Rasmussen for the
duration of the press conference, was unavailable for comment.
No doubt both he and Rasmussen will have more explaining to do when the
Tour resumes tomorrow morning. Let's hope that they get their facts
right this time.
http://www.bikeradar.com/blogs/article/rasmussens-uci-memory-clouded-11721