Originally published Thursday, July 17, 2008 at 12:00 AM
Tour de France | Second cyclist ousted
The 11th-stage victory Wednesday by Norwegian veteran Kurt-Asle Arvesen took a back seat to the arrest of Spain's Moises Duenas Nevado after he tested positive for the banned performance enhancer EPO in the second doping bust this Tour.
FOIX, France — Just when the race was getting interesting at the Tour de France, another doping scandal erupted.
The 11th-stage victory Wednesday by Norwegian veteran Kurt-Asle Arvesen took a back seat to the arrest of Spain's Moises Duenas Nevado after he tested positive for the banned performance enhancer EPO in the second doping bust this Tour.
"I just can't understand when are these guys going to learn," International Cycling Union president Pat McQuaid said by phone. "If the 'B' sample is positive, then all I can say is the guy's a fool. The net is closing in."
Overall leader Cadel Evans of Australia, lamenting the case that overshadowed his first ride in the yellow jersey on the 104.1-mile stage from Lannemezan to Foix, said, "I'm very, very sorry for the image of cycling."
Before the stage began, police swept into the hotel in Tarbes where Duenas Nevado's Barloworld team was staying. They detained him and seized unspecified "banned medicines" from his room, team officials said.
The 27-year-old Spaniard, riding in his third Tour de France, tested positive for EPO after the fourth stage time trial in Cholet on July 8, said Pierre Bordry, head of the French anti-doping agency.
Duenas Nevado, who had been 19th overall, was immediately suspended by his team and ousted from the race. On orders from a state prosecutor, police were holding him overnight for questioning — notably about where he may have obtained EPO, a police official said. Under French law, he can be held up to 24 hours.
The drug bust was only the latest in a string of doping scandals that have rocked cycling in recent years — and especially the Tour, its main event. Since the start of last year's race, at least a half-dozen doping-related cases have hit the Tour.
"I'm shocked," Barloworld manager Claudio Corti said. "The team is not involved in this story at all, and we'll take severe action against anyone who damages our credibility and the image of our team."
The case was the second positive EPO test in this Tour. Spanish veteran Manuel Beltran — a former teammate of seven-time winner Lance Armstrong — was sent home for testing positive after the first stage this year.
Barloworld got even more bad news: Two team riders pulled out of the race after sustaining injuries from a crash about midway through the stage. Colombia's Felix Cardenas suffered a deep cut in his left knee and Paolo Longo Borghini of Italy broke his right collarbone, the race doctor said. Barloworld is down to the minimum of five riders.
The drug bust siphoned off attention from what looks to be a still wide-open race, whose outcome is likely to be determined in three rides in the Alps starting Sunday and a time trial a day before the July 27 finish in Paris.
Copyright © 2008 The Seattle Times Company
NEW - 8:36 PM
Inquiry into Agassi's drug use closed
Chinook run yields fair fishing on Lower Columbia River
NEW - 9:05 PM
NW Briefs: Washington State baseball scores four times in ninth to beat Dallas Baptist 5-2
Lance Mackey makes it four straight | Iditarod
Community sports & recreation datebook

general classifieds
Garage & estate salesFurniture & home furnishings
Sporting goods
just listed
56cm Motobecane Champion Team - $450
60 Pc VintageTowle Sterling Flatware Set - $1400
@ picec black sofa set - $350
More listings
POST A FREE LISTING
shopping
events for Thursday, Mar. 18
- Daylight Savings Sale at Click! Design That F...
- Village Green
- Vegfest 2010
- Contain Yourself Sale at Ravenna Gardens
editors' picks
More shopping guides- Walgreens: no new Medicaid patients as of April 16
- Seahawks trade for quarterback Charlie Whitehurst
- Search called off for missing mom, son
- Medical-pot grower plans to sue over shootout fallout
- Police confirm child's body is that of missing Silverdale boy
- Seahawks Blog | Report: Seattle gives San Diego picks, Charlie Whitehurst some cash
- Authorities scale back Orcas Island search for Colton Harris-Moore
- Boy-for-sale ad: a hoax or desperate cry for help?
- Woman fatally shot at Federal Way church
- Goodbye to grand plan for Seattle Center?
- Lawmakers struggle to finish health overhaul bill
828 - Marquette game thread
570 - Walgreens: no new Medicaid patients as of April 16
291 - Goodbye to grand plan for Seattle Center?
135 - Search for elusive Harris-Moore in full swing on Orcas Island Tuesday
120 - Some speak out against Seattle council plan to crack down on panhandling
89 - Seahawks trade for quarterback Charlie Whitehurst
87 - Republicans already talking about repeal of health-care bill
81 - Report: shooting at Federal Way church
71 - 5 charged after break-in at Kirkland-area pot grower's home
63
- Walgreens: no new Medicaid patients as of April 16
- Mountain bikers build a thrilling new Eastside bike park
- Losses climb at City Bank, Frontier
- Travel Wise | How safe is travel in Mexico?
- Poulsbo postal worker suspected of stealing money from cards
- Happy Hour: Tavolata is the spot when you've gotta have pasta
- Walmart announcement tells black people to leave store
- Amazon adds 180,000 square feet to S. Lake Union space
- Medical-pot grower plans to sue over shootout fallout
- Nuns' support for health-care bill shows church split





