The Tour de France started overnight immersed in the worst crisis in its history, with the top five riders excluded following a drug scandal.
The two favourites, Jan Ullrich, of Germany, and Italian Ivan Basso, were among 56 riders implicated in a massive anti-doping operation in Spain and excluded from
Le Tour. Spaniard Francisco Mancebo, fourth last year, was also implicated.
Kazakhstan's Alexandre Vinokourov, fifth last year, was not involved but still cannot ride as most of his team were. A team can't compete with fewer than four riders.
Reigning champion Lance Armstrong retired last July, so none of last year's top five will be in the field this time.
According to the rules of cycling's ProTour, any rider officially connected with anti-doping investigations has to be suspended by their squad and Ullrich's T-Mobile team suspended the 1997 Tour winner yesterday. Team spokesman Luuc Eisengaa said: "We chose to believe Jan when he denied his involvement, but the point has been reached where we can no longer believe him."
Ullrich is as big as Michael Schumacher in Germany and T-Mobile invests around $20m (US$13.8m) every year in the team. The crisis spread rapidly to other teams, and soon it was the turn of Basso, seen as the likely successor to Armstrong, to be excluded.
The title favourites are now Spaniard Alejandro Valverde and American duo Levi Leipheimer and Floyd Landis.
Valverde said: "I only hope that public will appreciate that whoever wins the Tour, it is because they deserve it, not because of all the problems." But it seems a slender hope.
Meanwhile Armstrong has settled his libel case against a British newspaper, The Sunday Times, over a report that he said suggested he had taken performance-enhancing drugs.
- INDEPENDENT
