Michael Rasmussen settles with Rabobank

Image 1 of 3

Michael Rasmussen and Rabobank have settled their court case, Ekstra Bladet reports. The Dane and his former Dutch team disputed the dismissal of Rasmussen after he was forced to leave the Tour de France in 2007. Rasmussen can't disclose the exact nature of the agreement but said "The result is not as good as I hoped but not as bad as I feared."

Rabobank fired Rasmussen when it was revealed that he was not at the location he had claimed to be. While he told his team he was training in Mexico to prepare for the 2007 Tour de France, he was seen in Italy by Davide Cassani.

Rasmussen took legal action against Rabobank while serving a two-year suspension for his whereabouts violations. In 2008, a court in Utrecht found that there had not been sufficient grounds for dismissal and Rasmussen was awarded €665,000 in damages. Both parties appealed this decision with Rasmussen asking for €5.6 million in compensation for earnings he would have had as a Tour de France winner.

However, the appeal court in Arnhem found in favour of Rabobank, that the dismissal had been justified, and has ordered Rasmussen to repay a sizeable part of the €665,000 that were paid out to him in the first instance.

"We settled this in January already but nobody asked about the matter so it was not made public," Rasmussen told Ekstra Bladet. "It is not a secret that the case is over but we agreed that the contents of the deal will be kept confidential."

In January of 2013 Rasmussen confessed to having used banned substances for most of his career. The 39-year old Dane is currently suspended for two years, until February of 2015. When his suspension ends he wants to work with the Christina Watches team, the team he last rode for. Team manager Claus Hembo indicated last year that he is welcome to work with the team.