Portuguese rider Nuno Ribeiro has been sacked by the Liberty Seguros cycling team a day after failing an official health check before the start of the three-week Giro d'Italia.
"The board of the Liberty Seguros-Wurth team met after Nuno Ribeiro failed the health test and it has been decided to rescind the contract between the two parties," the Spanish-based team said.
"From today Nuno Ribeiro is no longer a member of the team. The rider will, however, have the support of the team while we wait for the outcome of the anti-doping controls that have been carried out since in order to clear up any doubts about what happened."
The statement said that the rider, whose contract ran until December 2006, had accepted the decision.
