Diehard spectators were left disappointed and shocked by the events.

"Is it true there's no yellow jersey?" asked Denise, an elderly woman following the race from a wheelchair in the town of Castelsarrasin. "It's a shame. It's the first time I've seen something like this."

France's No 1 team Cofidis had already been forced to pull out on Wednesday after it was revealed that Italian Cristian Moreni had tested positive for testosterone.

Moreni was sacked on Thursday shortly after being released from police custody in the southwestern French town of Pau, where he had admitted using the banned hormone to improve his performance.

Prudhomme suggested it would have been unfair on the rest of the Rabobank team to suffer for Rasmussen's errors.

And the Frenchman said that even thinking about bringing the race to a premature end would unfairly punish the riders who have stayed clean.

No plan to ban cycling

Banning cycling from the Olympic Games is not being considered as a response to the doping scandals shaking the sport in the Tour de France, International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Jacques Rogge said on Friday.

"To exclude the sport from the Olympic Games is not a solution," he told reporters during a visit to Belgrade which is currently hosting the Youth Olympics.

"You have to put everything into perspective. What is happening now in the Tour de France is first of all a sign that the mentality of the athletes must change drastically, and rapidly," Rogge said.

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