Beloki out of Tour and Brioches

Procycling.com | Beloki's Brioches split means end of Tour hopes

Joseba Beloki and his team, Brioches La Boulangère, have parted ways “by mutual consent.”

Beloki joined the squad after last year's terrible fall on the Tour's ninth stage, with high hopes of a high placing in this year's Tour. His conditioning never seemed to come this season, and his problems with the team deepened when Beloki complained that team doctors wouldn't let him use Pulmicort, a banned asthma medication he says he has used since childhood, despite a prescription and permission from his former team, ONCE, and the Spanish cycling federation.

A couple of weeks ago, the team's sponsor announced that they would pull out of the sport rather than pick up the extra costs associated with 2005's UCI ProTour, and Beloki found out through the press, further complicating the relationship.

Brioches manager Jean-René Bernaudau told L'Equipe (in French, with Google translation) that Beloki's contract makes it impossible for him to ride this year's Tour with another team.

Beloki was 3rd in the Tour in 2000 and 2001, and 2nd in 2002, before last year's crash, which occurred with him in 2nd overall, 40 seconds behind Lance Armstrong.