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Rasmussen loses his appeal

Berlin - Dutch media reported Tuesday that retired professional cyclist Michael Rasmussen has lost his court case against his former team Rabobank.

The 39-year-old Dane took the Dutch team to court after being dismissed by Rabobank and withdrawn from the 2007 Tour de France, while he was leading and seemingly heading towards an overall victory.

At the time, Rasmussen was embroiled in a controversy surrounding the non-disclosure of his whereabouts to cycling officials, preventing them from conducting doping tests.

De Telegraaf said an appeal court in Arnhem had ruled that Rasmussen has to pay 579,000 euros (758,000 dollars) to Rabobank, as well as 84,000 euros damages.

The court said that they accepted Rabobank's reasons for dismissing the Dane at the time.

He had told officials that he was in Mexico, but was actually seen by a fellow professional cyclist in Italy riding in the Dolomites.

A court in Utrecht had earlier ruled that Rasmussen had been wrongfully dismissed by Rabobank and awarded him 700,000 euros. He had sued the team for five million euros. Both parties had appealed that decision.

Rasmussen, who twice won the polka dot jersey for the King of the Mountains of the Tour, earlier this year admitted to using a wide-range of performance-enhancing drugs over a 12 year period from 1998. He retired in 2012.

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