The 17th stage of the 2007 Tour de France started today with nobody wearing the yellow jersey. Race leader Michael Rasmussen was sacked by his Rabobank team on Wednesday night and withdrawn from the race, leaving the famous shirt empty for a day as the Tour attempts to bounce back from the loss of the Dane and the Cofidis team.

Cofidis, who feature Britain's Bradley Wiggins in their line-up, withdrew from the event yesterday following a positive doping test for Cristian Moreni, while Rasmussen's position became untenable when Rabobank found out he had lied about his whereabouts during training for the competition.

Meanwhile, pre-race favourite Alexandre Vinokourov failed a doping test on Tuesday leading to his team, Astana, pulling out.

Before the start of Thursday's 17th stage, Tour director Christian Prudhomme expressed his delight with Rasmussen's dismissal and insisted the race will not be cancelled.

Corrupt race populated by a cast of frauds heading for the gutter

The abject failure of a divided sport to clean up its act has led to renewed calls that the Tour be stopped

Background

• Tour stage starts without yellow jersey

• France mourns 'death of the Tour'

• Rasmussen sacked by Rabobank

• New doping scandal hits the Tour

• Tour in disarray after Vinokourov tests positive

Background

• Rasmussen extends Tour advantage

• Vinokourov bounces back for second stage

• Contador a contender after Pyrenees triumph

• Vinokourov makes it lucky 13

• Rasmussen keeps yellow jersey as Boonen wins

Related Links

• Rasmussen thrown out of Tour

• Corrupt race populated by a cast of frauds heading for the gutter

• Tour de France - stage seventeen guide

"Rasmussen's exit is the best thing that can happen to the Tour," Prudhomme said. "The race will start without him and the yellow jersey will be given out after the stage.

"The race will go on for the rest of the riders and we believe it would be an insult to them to stop the race. We believe the general classification is much better now than it was."

Spain's Alberto Contador, riding for Discovery, currently leads Australian Cadel Evans in the general classification by 1min 57sec.

Rasmussen, who had worn the yellow jersey for over a week, had looked as if he had sealed overall victory when winning Wednesday's stage. But his presence in the race had been questioned after it was revealed he had missed four out-of-competition dope tests in the past 18 months.

"He lied to me, that is the chief reason [for sacking him]," Theo de Rooy, the Rabobank manager, said. "There is no sign of him having been doped. It is simply a breach of trust."

Rasmussen had looked set to erase the memories of compatriot Bjarne Riis's disgrace after the 1996 Tour de France winner confessed recently to having used EPO (Erythropoietin) at the time - he was subsequently stripped of the title.