Stage 21 - July 26th
Montereau-Fault-Yonne—Paris Champs-Élysées (164km)

Stage 21 Results • Final Results • Live Replay
  1. Alberto Contador (Astana) at 85:48:35
  2. Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank) at 04:11
  3. Lance Armstrong (Astana) at 05:24
  4. Bradley Wiggins (Garmin - Slipstream) at 06:01
  5. Frank Schleck (Saxo Bank) at 06:04
  6. Andréas Klöden (Astana) at 06:42
  7. Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas) at 07:35
  8. Christian Vande Velde (Garmin-Slipstream) at 12:04
  9. Roman Kreuziger (Liquigas) at 14:16
  10. Christophe Le Mevel (Francaise Des Jeux) at 14:25
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The Chicken finds a new roost: Rasmussen says he's found a European team

Published: Oct. 27, 2009
Rasmussen says he'll announce his new team later this fall.
Rasmussen says he'll announce his new team later this fall.
Photo: Graham Watson

Michael Rasmussen is heading back to a European-based team.

That’s according to Rasmussen, 35, who confirmed to the Danish newspaper Politiken that he’s poised to announce his return to a European team.

“I won’t say which team it is until everything is settled. I expect it to be before the Oct. 31 deadline set by the UCI,” Rasmussen told the Danish daily. “By February, I hope to line up for the Ruta del Sol.”

Rasmussen — who was removed from the 2007 Tour de France just four days short of victory over inconsistencies in his pre-Tour whereabouts — admitted that his two-year ban has hit him in the pocket book.

“I won’t be making the money I was on before my ban,” he said. “But I won’t be starting from scratch, either.”

Efforts to return to the peloton following the conclusion of his ban this summer faltered. Though he was reportedly close to finding a team to race in time for the Vuelta a España, officials imposed time limit rules that kept him out of the Spanish tour.

He eventually raced for a team based in Mexico and won the Vuelta a Puebla with the Tecos-Trek team and finished sixth overall at the Vuelta a Chihuahua.

Rasmussen was the center of a media storm concerning questions about his whereabouts and his availability for out-of-competition tests in the weeks leading up to the start of the 2007 Tour.

Although he never failed a doping control, Rasmussen was later banned for two years by the Monaco cycling federation (where Rasmussen held a license) for missing out-of-competition controls. That ban ended in July.