But Prudhomme said the information available so far did not merit disqualifying Rasmussen from the Tour, where riders compete for commercial teams and not their countries. Rasmussen rides for the Rabobank team.

"In the absence of further elements, Rasmussen will take the start for
today's stage," Prudhomme said.

Rasmussen is 2 minutes, 35 seconds ahead of second-place Alejandro
Valverde and 2:39 in front of Iban Mayo.

Minor deal

Rasmussen acknowledged making an "administrative error" in failing to
report his whereabouts to anti-doping officials.

"I was informed of this at the Danish championship 2 1/2 weeks ago, so
it's no news," he said before the start of Friday's stage.

"It might be a surprise that it comes out right now.

"I'm very calm and very relaxed ... It's a minor deal."

Rasmussen said he was tested out of competition in June, and the results were negative.

"I have no positive doping tests, and that's it," he said.

Vino to battle on

Meanwhile, Alexandre Vinokourov's knees may have healed just in time for him to launch a surprise comeback at the Tour.

"I asked my teammates to attack because I felt good," Vinokourov said
after Thursday's 11th stage.

"It's clear that I got my morale back today."

Vinokourov was in such pain during Tuesday's final Alpine stage that he
wiped tears away when speaking to French television.

And, after struggling through Wednesday's 10th stage, he'd felt he could not take much more.

"If you ask my teammates, they will tell you I was inches away from
abandoning (Wednesday)," Vinokourov said.

"The osteopath worked on my knees last night until midnight, especially the left one which was quite blocked."