"I feel myself cheated by Rasmussen," Denis Menchov has said on the Vuelta a España's first rest day. He had been Rabobank's captain going in to the Tour de France this year, but gave up his ambitions when his Danish team-mate took over the leader's jersey. Rasmussen was later removed from the Tour for uncertainties of his whereabouts leading up to the race, and later fired by the team.
The remaining team members decided to stay in the race, but Menchov dropped out the next day. "I couldn't do it any more," he told telesport.nl. "Mentally I was at the end. Actually, I wanted to stop after the first time trial in order to prepare myself for the Vuelta a España. I had no more chance for a good final classification, but I continued for Michael Rasmussen.
