PARIS — French President Nicolas Sarkozy has pledged his support to help the Tour de France fight the scourge of doping.
Sarkozy said Wednesday that “it was necessary to support the Tour de France and its organizers,” according to his government spokesman Luc Chatel.
The showcase race has been marred by a string of doping controversies over the past three years. Sarkozy made his comments after new French sports minister Rama Yade also spoke out against doping.
Yade said this year’s Tour will be particularly scrutinized by police to help in the fight against doping.
Sarkozy has plans to follow one of this year’s Tour stages, but it is not known which one he will attend.
The Tour starts Saturday in Monaco and finishes in Paris on July 26.
Dekker out of Tour
BRUSSELS — Dutch cyclist Thomas Dekker will not take part in the Tour de France after testing positive for the illegal blood-booster EPO.
His Silence-Lotto team said the cyclist recently learned a retested urine sample taken in December 2007 contained the banned hormone. Dekker was riding for the Dutch racing team Rabobank when the sample was taken.
Dekker joined Silence-Lotto last year on a two-year contract.
Silence-Lotto team leader Marc Sergeant said he was “very disappointed” by the news, adding he moved to suspend and replace Dekker ahead of the Tour.
