COL D'AUBISQUE, France - Tour de France overall leader Michael Rasmussen was dramatically sacked by his team Rabobank on Wednesday.

The Dane will not start Thursday's 17th stage after his team said the rider had lied about his training whereabouts in June. "He has violated the team's rules," a Rabobank spokesman said.

Rabobank team rider Michael Rasmussen of Denmark cycles to win the 16th stage of the 94th Tour de France cycling race between Orthez and Gourette-Col d'Aubisque in this July 25, 2007 file photo. Tour de France leader Rasmussen of Denmark has been sacked by his team Rabobank, the team said on July 25, 2007. Rasmussen, who won Wednesday's 16th stage, has been under a cloud since failing to provide notice to Danish anti-doping authorities of his whereabouts during training before the Tour. [Reuters]

Fellow team members gathered late on Wednesday to decide whether to continue the Tour but the meeting broke up without any statement.

Meanwhile, witnesses reported seeing police raiding the hotel of the Rabobank team in Pau, the start of Thursday's stage.

Rasmussen's dismissal is the latest and possibly biggest hammer-blow to the Tour's credibility following hard on the heels of positive dope tests on pre-race favourite Alexander Vinokourov and Italy's Cristian Moreni.

Rasmussen, 33, had already received two warnings from the UCI for failing to provide the sport's governing body with his personal schedule.

UCI president Pat McQuaid told Reuters by phone: "I wonder why they did not make the decision when they had all the information in June. However, it is a zero tolerance policy and I can only applaud it."

Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme told Reuters: "The important thing is not that he has been sacked by his team but that he will not be at the start of the stage tomorrow."

NEW INFORMATION

Rabobank director Theo de Rooy was quoted on Dutch TV as saying: "Several times he said where he was training and it proved to be wrong. The management of the team received that information several times and today we received new information."

The team said the Dane had told them he was in Mexico when he had in fact been in Italy.

Rabobank said in statement late on Wednesday: "Rabobank is shocked and enormously disappointed that Rasmussen has lied about his whereabouts."

"Wrongly reporting whereabouts is a flagrant violation of UCI rules and is unacceptable," the bank said.

The bank added that its board supported the decision to take Rasmussen off the race and to dismiss him.

"Rabobank understands that the morale of the team has suffered and that the cyclists at this moment cannot decide whether or not to start tomorrow."

It said the development was "a dark page" in the history of the team.

"Rabobank at this point does not plan to withdraw from cycling," the bank said, adding it would discuss the situation.

"What happened leaves me speechless. I am lost for words. A nightmare," board member Piet van Schijndel said in the statement.

Rasmussen was already under a cloud after being dropped from the Danish national team over failing to report his whereabouts in training.

On Wednesday, he was jeered by the crowd at the start but replied by winning the stage and extending his overall lead to three minutes 10 seconds.

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