COPENHAGEN, Nov 10: Pat McQuaid, the president of cycling’s world governing body the UCI, told Danish television on Friday that Michael Rasmussen had no place in the sport after lying before the Tour de France.

Rasmussen, a former two-time winner of the race’s polka dot jersey for the best climber, was pulled out of this year’s race by Rabobank while wearing the fabled yellow jersey due to major doping suspicions arousing from revelations that he had missed several random doping controls.

Rasmussen said Thursday he lied over his whereabouts - having insisted he was in Mexico when anti-doping controllers failed to find him in Europe to carry out random tests - due to personal reasons.

“I don’t think he (Rasmussen) has any place in cycling,” said McQuaid on Friday, adding: “How can we trust him? For me a lie is no different from a positive doping test.”—AFP