Bergsma said the Rabobank team, which has suspended Rasmussen, had not decided yet whether its other riders would take the start Thursday in Pau. Its next best rider was Michael Boogerd of the Netherlands, 16th and about 28 minutes behind Contador.

After the Tour’s upbeat start in London, when millions of spectators lined streets to watch, bad news — nearly all of it related to doping — quickly dominated.

German rider Patrick Sinkewitz crashed into a spectator then was revealed to have failed a drug test in training before the Tour, and Vinokourov was sent home after testing positive for a banned blood transfusion. On Wednesday, as Rasmussen was riding toward his stage 16 win, the Cofidis squad confirmed its Italian rider Cristian Moreni failed a doping test, prompting the withdrawal of the entire squad.

Police detained Moreni after he finished the stage and searched the hotel where his Cofidis team was staying. Results from the raid weren’t expected until Thursday. France has tough laws against trafficking in doping products.

Cofidis manager Eric Boyer said Moreni “accepted his wrongdoing” and waived his right for a follow-up test to confirm the results of the first, which was positive for the male hormone testosterone.

All this talk of doping prompted Jean-Francois Lamour, vice president of the World Anti-Doping Agency, to suggest the sport should be yanked from the Olympics. German public broadcasters have stopped airing the race, and one of Switzerland’s biggest newspapers stopped writing about it. The daily Tages Anzeiger said on its Web site Wednesday it will limit its coverage to results and doping stories.

Tom Lund, chairman of the Danish Cycling Union, said Rabobank “did they right thing, because it is a situation that no serious team cannot live with.”

“It is an unfortunate situation for Danish cycling, for international cycling.”

MORE FROM TOUR DE FRANCE

Tour de France Section Front

Contador defied all, including Lance Armstrong lambastes Contador on Twitter Contador's reign on Tour expected to last In his return, Lance shows a more human side Contador says he ‘never had admiration’ for Lance Astarloza facing 2-year ban after positive B test Opinion: When it counted, Armstrong came through NYT: In the end, France is in love with Lance Spanish Vuelta gets more TV coverage in US   Slideshow from the 2009 Tour de France Tour de France Section Front   Add Tour de France headlines to your news reader: