PARIS (AP) â€" Tour de France team Omega Pharma-Lotto said Wednesday it has severed ties with Wim Vansevenant after news reports linked the ex-rider with doping products.
General manager Geert Coeman says Vansevenant worked only "sporadically" for the team as a driver. It says he was due to drive for the team for one week at the three-week Tour that starts on Saturday.
In a statement Wednesday on the team's website, Coeman expressed surprise at Belgian newspaper reports that products which are banned for use by cyclists had been ordered by Vansevenant â€" and were intercepted by airport customs agents in Zaventem, Belgium.
Speaking to Belgian newspaper De Standaard, Vansevenant said he had ordered a "food supplement" over the Internet because he felt "old and tired." He denied trying to buy doping products for use by cyclists.
"People say I bought this product for my ex-team Lotto, but that's absolutely wrong. In a thousand years, the product was not intended for the team," he said.
De Standaard reported that the product was called TB-500 â€" which is used to stimulate muscle growth in horses.
The statement from the Omega Pharma-Lotto team said "all collaboration" with Vansevenant had been ended.
It added that as a driver for VIPs, he would not have come into contact with the team's riders and would not have been staying in their hotel.
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