Alex Rasmussen angry at UCI over suspension end date confusion

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The confusion over the end date of Alex Rasmussen's suspension continues, with the date now standing at March 14.  The Dane had recently received notice from the UCI that it would end as of January 26, and had already made plans to start racing again, until he was notified of yet another date change.

Rasmussen was given an 18-month ban for violating the whereabouts requirements, which was originally scheduled to end on April 1, 2013. The beginning of this month he was told the ban would be shortened by one month, to March 1.

Only days later, his manager Dries Smets received an email from the UCI's legal department, saying the ban expires on January 26, according to politiken.dk.  Rasmussen promptly made plans to ride the Copenhagen Six-Days race (January 1-February 5), and hoped to ride the Track World Championships in Belarus at the end of February.

He was in fact preparing to attend a press conference when he received further word from the UCI. “It was not until a few minutes before I was going into the six-day press conference in Ballerup Super Arena to talk about my plans that I got  another order from the UCI,” he said.

Rasmussen received another email from the UCI's legal department stating that the ban would not end until one minute before midnight on March 14, meaning he could only race again as of March 15.

"It almost feels as if I have been convicted again, and I am frankly angry that I was not able to receive a clear message from the UCI.” he said.

"The first mail suddenly created a completely new perspective, and I had already started to look forward to both the six-day race and the World Championships with high expectations."

"Now I'm leaving as soon as possible to go back to Spain to continue my road training, and so I still have to prepare myself for the fact I can only get a number on the back again from 15 March. If the UCI doesn't suddenly change its mind again. "

Rasmussen still does not have a team for the 2013 season, but hopes to re-sign with Team Garmin-Sharp.