Fränk Schleck speaks with police in Pau
RadioShack-Nissan rider positive for diuretic





As news of his withdrawal from the 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Tour de France following an 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:adverse analytical finding for the diuretic Xipami♚de broke on Tuesday evening, Frä🅰nk Schleck was speaking with police in Pau.
After receiving notice of his positive test, Schleck is understood to have opted to travel to the police station himself to make a statement✨ to officers from OCLAE♔SP (Central Office for the fight against environmental damage and for public health).
Meanwhile, the entrance to Schleck's 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:RadioShack-Nissan team hotel, the Villa Navarre in Pau𒊎, had been blocked by police as television crews and journalists began to assemble outside, waiting for a response from the team.
Shortly after 10pm, RadioShack-Nissan pre🤪ss officer Philippe Maertens cam𝓡e to the gates of the hotel to field questions from the reporters gathered outside.
"We're all a bit devastated but we can't do anything, we can only acknowledge the facts and see what happens. It's up to Fränk himself to find a🦹n explanation," Maertens said, adding that it "had not yet been decided" if Schl♑eck would seek an analysis of his B sample.
Schleck's positive test dates from July 14, the day of stage 13 of the Tour to 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Le Cap d'Agde and Maertens said that the team had no reason to su♏spect such an occurrence before the race began.
"No, there wereꦡ no doubts. If the team had doubts about him, they wouldn't have brought him to the Tour de France," he said.
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Schleck himself has yet to make a public pronouncement on the matter, but Maerte🥃ns said that the rider was surprised by the news: "He has no explanation."
As Xipamide is a specified substance, Schleck could in theory have continued in the race while awaiting analysis ofꦦ his B sample, but the RadioShack-Nissan team opted to remove him from the race. Schleck entered the rest day 12th overall, 9:45 behind yellow jersey Bradley Wiggins (Sky).
"He was our best rider here, we needed him for the teams classif❀ication," Maertens said. "He's an important factor of our team who is gone. It's important for the other riders too because it's their profession and they've worked for this goal, but to be honest, it's worst for Fränk himself."
Schleck's family, who had come to vis💦it him during the rest day in Pau, were present in the hotel on Tuesday. "It's not a happy situation," Maert💜ens said.
Schleck's younger brother Andy is not at the Tour as he recovers from a 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:fractured pelvis, but when contacted by a reporter from Le Parisien, he stressed his support. "On my life and on my family, I'm sure he hasn't taken anything," Schl♎eck said.

Barry Ryan was Head of Features at Cyclingnews. He has covered professional cycling since 2010, reporting from the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and ev♕entsꦓ from Argentina to Japan. His writing has appeared in The Independent, Procycling and Cycling Plus. He is the author of , published by Gill Books.