Doping scandal dogs cycling star

Lithuanian cyclist Raimondas Rumsas raced to a surprising third place finish in the Tour de France but he hardly had time to catch his breath before French police charged his wife with possession of illegal doping products.

"We discovered a large amount of medical products of which some could be classed as doping - corticoids, testosterone, EPO, growth hormones and anabolic steroids," said French prosecutor Vincent Le Pannerer.

Rumsiene was held in custody in Lyon, and French prosecutors asked authorities to prolong her detention while the suspected doping products were analyzed.

French customs officials stopped Rumsiene more than four hours before the start of the race's last stage as she was heading to Italy, where the couple live with their three children.

Her lawyer said she was transporting medicines for her mother.

The Lampare racing team for which Rumsas rode immediately suspended him July 29 while waiting for further information on the incident.

Police also searched Rumsas' hotel and the rest of the Lampre team in Paris, but nothing additional was found.

Tour de France officials said that Rumsas' result would be annulled if it turns out he used illegal substances.

Rumsas July 30 backed his wife's claim that the pharmaceutical products were for her mother and said he was ready to take a new doping test to prove he was clean during the race.

He had previously undergone two doping tests during the race for which the results were negative.

"I've never taken anything," Rumsas told the Italian Gazzetta dello Sport. "My performance was clean. I don't know anything."

Speaking to Lietuvos Rytas, he said, "I'm absolutely calm. Nobody will take from me the third place. I just worry about my wife."

The scandal has soured what sport casters and competitors considered a breakthrough performance for the 30-year-old Rumsas, who finished eight minutes, 17 seconds behind first place winner Lance Armstrong, who won his fourth straight Tour de France title.

Armstrong called Rumsas "the revelation" of this year's race.

"He's a real threat for the future because he's a complete rider," he told CNN.

"He never had a bad day and was very consistent."

On the last day of the race, Rumsas surged into top form as he raced up the Champs-Elysees and almost passed Spaniard Joseba Beloki, who finished second.

"Now Rumsas is the best known Lithuanian in the world after Arvydas Sabonis," said a commentator on Eurosport.

Rumsas began cycling when he was 13 and attending a sports school in Panevezys.

He had never been a serious cycling threat, having only won one significant victory at the Tour of Lombardy.

Antanas Taucius, his former coach, said he never doubted his former pupil.

"He was born in western Lithuania, where people don't talk too much. However, when they say something, they back it up. On the eve of the Tour de France, Rumsas said that he would finish among the top three. And he did it," Taucius said.

Rumsas is the first male Baltic cyclist to finish in the top three of the Tour de France, though Lithuanian women have made several strong showings in the past, including in 1996, when Rasa Polikeviciute took second place.

Another Lithuanian, Edita Pucinskaite, won the women's Tour de France in 1998 and finished second in 2000.

This story includes information from Agence France-Presse