Second Spanish rider held by French police and kicked off the Tour for EPO

Fifty police raided the hotel where the Barloworld rider, who was 19th overall in the Tour after 10 stages, was staying and then took him into custody in the southwestern town of Tarbes.

A Barloworld spokesman said Duenas Nevado has pulled out of the race and was immediately suspended by the team. He faces a two-year ban by the sport

Another one bites the dust: Spanish rider Moises Duenas Nevado, who has been kicked off the Tour after testing positive for EPO

'This is unbelievable,' Barloworld team manager Claudio
Corti told reporters. 'I don't understand. I didn't even have time to talk to him.'

Barloworld's spokesman Claudio Masnata said: 'We are shocked. We are waiting for the B-test. The raid was shocking, it was not a friendly (police) visit.'

Barloworld's Claudio Corti said the substances were
discovered when the room was searched by officers before the
start of the 11th stage from Lannemezan to Foix.

The 27-year-old
was immediately withdrawn from the race by his team and was
being questioned by police.

However, Masnata said the team will not pull out and will start Wednesday's 11th stage.

The case marks the second positive EPO test by a Spanish rider on this year's Tour, after  veteran Manuel Beltran - a former teammate of seven-time Tour champion Lance Armstrong - was sent home for testing positive for EPO after the first stage.

Pat McQuaid, the president of the International Cycling
Union (UCI), said Spain seemed to fail to get the message in the fight against doping.

'My first reaction is a reaction of great anger,' McQuaid told Reuters by telephone. 'He is an idiot,' the Irishman said of Duenas Nevado, who was 19th in the overall standings when he was arrested.

'It is interesting to see that it is the second Spanish rider (to fail a dope test on the Tour),' McQuaid added. 'Spain are slower to get the message.'

Pat McQuaid: angry

Pierre Bordry, head of the French anti-doping agency, said Duenas Nevado tested positive after the fourth stage on July 8 at Cholet, the site of the race's first time trial.  

'We notified Moises Duenas Nevado that he had tested positive for EPO after the fourth stage this morning,' AFLD president Pierre Bordry said.

The doping agency has replaced the International Cycling Union in handling doping controls at the Tour for the first time this year.

Duenas Nevado, 27, riding in his third Tour de France, recorded his best finish of 39th last year. Among his previous achievements were victories in the Regio Tour in 2007 and the Tour de l'Avenir in 2006.

It was the second dose of bad news for Barloworld during the Tour. Its team leader, Colombian rider Juan Mauricio Soler, pulled out of the race last week after injuring his wrists in a crash during the first stage. Soler was the King of the Mountains champion as the Tour's best climber last year.    

The two previous Tours were also marred by doping, pressing organisers ASO and the International Cycling Union (UCI) to clean up the race.

Already gone: Spain's Manuel Beltran, the first rider to be kicked off this year's Tour, also for testing positive for EPO

Sponsors, such as the longtime German backer T-Mobile, pulled out. Last year, the pre-race favorite Alexandre Vinokourov of Kazakhstan tested positive for blood doping, Italian Cristian Moreni tested positive for testosterone, Spaniard Iban Mayo was busted for using EPO, and race leader Michael Rasmussen was kicked out just days before the end for lying about his whereabouts to avoid pre-Tour drug tests.

Mayo was cleared by his national federation, but the case is still being contested by the UCI. In the 2006 Tour, winner Floyd Landis tested positive for synthetic testosterone after a spectacular comeback ride that set the stage for his victory.

The American was later stripped of the title after a long court battle.

Following Tuesday's rest day, Australia's Cadel Evans takes a one second lead into today's 11th stage, just ahead of Frank Schleck of Luxembourg.

The 104.1-mile trek from Lannemezan to Foix features one category 1 climb up the Col de Portel.