Dozens of cyclists have been barred from participating in the Tour de France after being linked to a Spanish doctor charged with illegal doping. Among those being barred are Jan Ullrich and Ivan Basso. The suspensions came down from the individual teams themselves.

“There are clear guidelines arranged with the riders, which leave no room for interpretation. This was also clear to Jan Ullrich, Oscar Sevilla and Rudy Pevenage,” says Ludwig. Against this background, the sponsor as well as the team management repeatedly questioned the riders and the sporting director. “At first we had no reason to doubt the riders’ statements. Therefore, we couldn’t make any decision merely based on speculations, rumours and guesses, says Frommert. This situation has now changed profoundly. “Accordingly, we will now live up to our responsibility towards making cycling a clean sport.”

This is going to be a big shakeup for the race, which begins this weekend. It seems as though Jan Ullrich is never going to have his chance to prove himself against the Discovery Team. First he had the Lance Armstrong monkey on his back, and now he won’t even be able to prove he can beat the team without Armstrong.

(Sources: ESPN.com and T-Mobile)