Rasmussen, Rabobank get court date

Michael Rasmussen will have his day in court against Team Rabobank on June 5. He is suing the team for what he calls his unjustified dismissal last summer and is asking for 5.5 million euro in damages.

The Danish rider was pulled out of the Tour de France while he was leading it, and the team immediately fired him. The management said that he had lied to them about his whereabouts while training for the Tour, and the UCI claimed that he had been warned for misrepresenting his whereabouts several times.

In his lawsuit, Rasmussen claimed that the firing was not valid, and that the letter of dismissal was insufficiently clear. He further claimed that the team management knew that he was in Italy instead of Mexico, where his "whereabouts" statements said that he was. The 5.5 million euro damages would cover not only his contract but also bonuses and other income he would have received as Tour de France winner.(SW)