Beltran out of Tour after positive test

(CNN) -- Veteran Liquigas rider Manuel Beltran has been arrested and kicked off the Tour de France after testing positive for the blood-booster EPO.

Amid scenes reminiscent of last year's race when Astana team leader Alexandre Vinokourov was thrown out for blood doping, Spaniard Beltran was led away, his head covered, by police after they had conducted a search of his hotel room.

A Liquigas spokesman said: "The police have taken Manuel away for questioning. He was not sharing his room with any other teammates. It was only his room that was searched."

Team manager Roberto Amadio added: "Our first decision is to suspend Manuel. He has told us he has done nothing wrong and he wants to have a counter-analysis done, so until then all we can do is to suspend him.

"But if that also tests positive, his contract with the team will be terminated. Our first reaction to this news is one of surprise. It's a very bad situation, for the whole team, including the riders who must start the race on Saturday.

"We have an active anti-doping program in place, so for us, if this result is confirmed, it is an isolated case," added Amadio.

The 37-year-old Beltran was lying in 26th place overall, three minutes 20 seconds behind leader Kim Kirchen of Luxembourg, after finishing 33rd on Friday's stage.

Despite the announcment, the rest of the Liquigas team are expected to continue in the three-week race. Their highest-placed rider is currently Czech Roman Kreuziger, who is in 20th position overall.

Last year the entire Cofidis team left the race when Cristian Moreni tested positive for testosterone, although the French outfit left willingly despite Moreni admitting he had acted alone.

Beltran was targeted for further testing, this time via a urine sample, after anomalies appeared in a blood sample taken at the start of the July 5-27 race.

Pierre Bordry, the chief of the French national anti-doping agency (AFLD), said the presence of EPO was confirmed in the urine sample.

"We took a urine sample from him on Saturday (July 5) because of anomalies in his blood sample. The urine sample tested positive for EPO."

He said other cyclists with "suspicious" parameters from the pre-Tour tests had also been targeted, but he would not say who they are.

A strong climber, Beltran helped Lance Armstrong win the Tour in 2003, 2004 and 2005 with Discovery Channel, often pulling the Texan up the steep climbs.

He is the fourth former Armstrong team-mate to test positive for doping, after Floyd Landis, Tyler Hamilton and Roberto Heras.

The Tour was devastated by doping scandals last year, when pre-race favorite Vinokourov tested positive, 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.

And in the 2006 Tour, American Floyd Landis tested positive for synthetic testosterone after a spectacular comeback ride that set the stage for his victory. He later was stripped of the title after a long court battle.

Race organizers have pledged a harder approach to combatting drug cheats at this year's Tour, with eight specially trained chaperones shadowing riders after each stage, even climbing onto team buses, to ensure riders go to post-stage anti-doping checks.

Every rider had blood tests done before the start of the race by the AFLD, which is responsible for testing along with the French cycling federation.

The AFLD announced on Friday that 20 riders had abnormal blood test results before the race, but none exceeded the limits for hematocrit. High levels of hematocrit are indicators of EPO use but do not confirm it.