In his new book, former Tour de France king of the mountains Michael Rasmussen adds fuel to the fire that accuses the UCI for corruption. The Dane claims to have failed a doping control at the 2005 Tour de France but that he was allowed to stay in the race due to an agreement between the international federation and his Rabobank team doctor Geert Leinders.

On a day when new accusations by Michael Rasmussen have been revealed throughout the day, it is now time for the UCI to be put in the dock. In his new book "Yellow fever" which will be published in Denmark on Monday, the former Tour de France king of the mountains claims that the international federation allowed him to continue in the 2005 Tour de France despite a failed doping control.

In 2005, Rasmussen was riding for Rabobank and had his major breakthrough in the Tour de France. He won a stage and the polka-dot jersey and finished 7th overall after having been in podium contention for most of the race.

Having first raced the Tour de France in 2004, Rasmussen had been allowed to fully focus on the world's biggest bike race in 2005 and there was no internal pressure for him to make any results in the first part of the season.

"I was clean in January, February, March and April," he writes. "I didn't take anything at all. We were at the end of May before I started to take anything seriously that year. At that time I took my first dose of EPO and supplemented with growth hormone and insulin."

Rasmussen adds that he kept the Danish anti-doping authorities on distance by moving away from his home, train in neutral clothes and claim that he was in Mexico.

During the Tour de France, Rasmussen needed a blood transfusion. Fearing the doping hunt of the French authorities, Rabobank didn't allow it to happen in France.

"Stage 7 ended in Karlsruhe in Germany, " Rasmussen writes. "I asked a friend from Italy to travel to the German city to give a blood bag to doctor Leinders [Rabobank team doctor]. They met at the station in Karlsruhe and doctor Leinders travelled back to the hotel where the bag was waiting for me when we arrived after the stage.

"The next Monday we had a rest day. We had a blood control carried out by the UCI officials. Afterwards, we trained. When we returned to the hotel, Frans Maassen [Rabobank sports director] turned to me and told that he had been called by the UCI. They had told that there was a problem with one of the riders. "I hope it's not you," he said.

"But it was me. The test didn't show any high hematocrit. It was 39 or 40. But my reticulocyte levels were very low. Hence, I was under suspicion for blood doping."

Rasmussen explains that the team should withdraw a rider from the race if the reticulocyte level was below 0,3. If it was below 0,25, the UCI could withdraw the rider.

"My value was 0,23. In brief: I was out.

He explains how he was allowed to continue in the race.

"Relatively quickly, I could breathe a sigh of relief. Rabobank was the biggest sponsor in cycling and the UCI probably knew that it was important not to create unnecessary troubles for a team that had given so much to the sport.

"Doctor Leinders and doctor Mario Zorzoli, chief of the UCI's medical department, had a meeting and talked about the situation. When it had finished, I was allowed to continue. No reason to be worried. Afterwards, doctor Leinders told me what had happened. He used a Dutch phrase "We have butter on our heads." Rabobank had a good relationship with the UCI; they found a solution amicably. "Right now you are the most protected rider in the Tour de France," he told me. "They have just accepted that you break the rules.

The allegation of a cover-up from the UCI comes on the back of the similar allegation that Lance Armstrong had been protected by the UCI. The repeated claim that the American tested positive during the 2001 Tour de Suisse has drawn much attention but until now, the UCI has refused all allegations.

Rasmussen had the impression that he was not the only rider who was protected by the UCI.

"Some kind of metamorphosis had happened on Armstrong's Discovery Channel," he writes and tells about a conversation he had with Armstrong the next day before the stage to Courchevel. "Today I can smile when I recall how Armstrong that morning addressed me before the start. We stood next to each other in out jerseys. He looked at me with a mischievous expression. "What did you eat yesterday?" I just looked at him and said "The same as you, probably.""

Yesterday, the UCI agreed to the broad principles under which it intends to move forward with the implementation of an Independent Commission which will look into allegations of past wrongdoing at the UCI and the extent and roots of doping in cycling.