Two more charged with Tour doping

Off to court: Massi on his way to be charged with illegal drug use

Casino's Rodolfo Massi, the former King of the Mountains leader of the Tour de France, and ONCE team doctor Nicolas Terrados have been charged at the Lille courts of justice with illegal drug use.

Both men, who have been released on bail, have been charged with "inciting and facilitating the use and employment of doping products".

Lille's assistant public prosecutor, Gerald Vinsonneau, said that Massi faces additional charges of "importing, distributing and transferring poisonous substances".

He added that the Casino cyclist Giles Bouvard - who was not selected for the Tour - had told investigators that drugs had been supplied to him "either by Massi or the Casino doctor during the Liege-Bastogne-Liege race".

Bail conditions for Massi and Terrados include them having no contact with the world of cycling.

'He didn't hide the drugs'

Cortisone steroids and other drugs had allegedly been found in Massi's hotel room after a search on Wednesday evening.

Massi, who has denied taking drugs, initially refused to submit a test sample, but subsequently relented.

The results are not expected until September.

"They were substances perfectly legal in Italy. He therefore hadn't tried to hide them," Mr Vinsonneau said.

A total of five people have now been charged in what has become the 1998 Tour de France doping scandal.

TVM face police

Jan Moors, the masseur of the TVM team that withdrew from the Tour on Friday, is to appear in court in Reims by Monday.

TVM squad members are due to be interviewed by Reims police on Monday in connection with ongoing inquiries into the illegal use of drugs by riders.

The results of test samples from the TVM team are expected next week, according to police sources.

The five riders - Sergei Ivanov, Sergei Outschakov, Steven de Jongh, Servais Knaven and Bart Voskamp - withdrew before the start of Friday's 19th stage from La Chaux-de-Fonds to Autun in France.

A sixth TVM rider, Jeroen Blijlevens, pulled out of the Tour during Thursday's stage.

The TVM team director, Cees Priem, and doctor, Andrei Mikhailov, have already been charged with "transporting poisonous substances and the possession of dangerous merchandise".

Less than half left

Only 14 of the 21 teams that started the Tour now remain and only 87 riders - less than half the original field - set out on the 242km stage.

The Festina team were ejected from the Tour after the performance-enhancing drug EPO was found in a car driven by the team's physiotherapist.

Several members of the Festina team have subsequently admitted to using illegal drugs.

Marc Madiot, sporting director of the La Francaise des Jeux team, was also interviewed by police on Thursday, but was later released.

The ONCE, Banesto, Kelme, Riso-Scotti and Vitalicio teams have all withdrawn from the Tour in protest at the tactics of police investigating the use of performance-enhancing drugs.