Rasmussen to appeal Rabobank settlement

Michael Rasmussen will appeal the ruling by a Dutch court which decided that his former Rabobank team owed him 665,000 euros in contract fees and interest. The Dane sued his team for wrongful dismissal after being fired from the squad during the 2007 Tour de France.

The Danish news agency Ritzau reported that Rasmussen intends to challenge the decision, which was well below the 5.4 million euros he had asked for in the suit.

Rasmussen was leading the Tour de France when Rabobank pulled him off the race and fired him for lying about his whereabouts for UCI anti-doping controls. He told the authorities he was in Mexico last June, when he was actually in Italy and France. While he admitted to lying on his declarations, Rasmussen claimed the team knew where he was all along.

The Dane was leading the Tour and was a near certainty to win when he was fired for telling the International Cycling Union (UCI) he was in Mexico before the race when he was actually in Italy and France. He has admitted lying about his whereabouts to the UCI, but insists his team knew where he was.