Michael Rasmussen has raised questions on X - formerly Twitter - about the conduct of Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe in the doping case involving their rider Oier Lazkano. The Basque was provisionally suspended by the UCI earlier this week due to suspicious fluctuations in his biological passport from 2022 through 2024. Lazkano was subsequently dismissed by his team.
The Dane himself doesn’t have a clean history either. As the yellow jersey wearer, Rasmussen was on his way to the overall victory in the 2007 Tour de France wearing Rabobank colors. However, after the last mountain stage he was expelled from the Tour by team boss Theo de Rooij. The Dane had lied about his whereabouts and was fired with immediate effect that very same day. In hindsight, that was not allowed because Rabobank was aware of the issues, which later led to the team having to pay the Dane hundreds of thousands in damages. Today he works as a journalist and analyst.
Rasmussen at work as a journalist during the 2018 Tour, next to him Raymond Kerckhoffs – photo: fotopersburo Cor Vos
"As far as I know, there are only two scenarios," he begins his account on X. "I assume that Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe – as is most likely – requested Lazkano’s medical file before signing the contract. Scenario one: the doctors of Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe were not competent enough to detect suspicions, which would be a problem. Scenario two: those same doctors did detect suspicions but trusted that the International Testing Agency and/or the UCI did not respond."
Rasmussen disapproves of both scenarios, but especially the latter would be a painful matter. "In that case, there is an even bigger problem. It would open a whole new area where many riders, with the knowledge of the team, might be circulating with abnormal blood values. In any case, a three-year process is very long," he concludes.
Nothing seemed able to stop Rasmussen from winning the Tour in 2007 – photo: fotopersburo Cor Vos
