Cyclist Rasmussen suspended for missed doping tests

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Cyclist Rasmussen suspended for missed doping tests

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Rasmussen has been ordered to appear before a sports tribunal of the Danish sports federation.

16 September,2011 12:06 pm

Denmarks four-time track cycling world champion Alex Rasmussen has been suspended by his national federation, and sacked by his team, for missing three out-of-competition doping controls during the past 18 months.The Danish cycling federation said in a statement that the HTC-Highroad rider has been ordered to appear before a sports tribunal of the Danish sports federation and will not be competing in next weeks world championships in Copenhagen.During the last 18 months (Rasmussen) missed three doping tests and received two warnings from Anti-Doping Denmark and one from the International Cycling Union (UCI), the cycling federation statement added.The 27-year-old - twice a world champion in scratch (2005 and 2010) and who took gold in Madison and Team pursuit in the 2009 championships - has failed to translate his success on the track to road racing since he turned professional in 2009.Rasmussens best results have been two stage wins in last years Four Days to Dunkirk race for Team Saxo Bank.He signed a two-year contract last month to ride with American team Garmin next season after the HTC-Highroad announced they were folding at the end of the year having failed to find a backer.HTC-Highroad reacted to the news by immediately terminating his contract.Upon notification of a missed test, Alex Nikki Rasmussens contract with HTC- Highroad has been terminated with immediate effect for breach of the teams code of conduct, a statement said.The Team was also notified that Rasmussen had two missed tests in 2010 prior to joining HTC-Highroad that had not been previously reported to the team.