UCI made a point of making it known that Rasmussen was wrong about his blood count being below UCI limits and therefore that the UCI doctor went to discuss the situation with Rasmussen's team doctor.  Yes, according to UCI, the doctors did meet; no denial there.  But Michael Rasmussen was dead wrong about falling below the UCI limit.  Yes, his blood count was 0.23; a very low count achievable only by diluting one's blood with it's new cells with older blood from elsewhere; in other words by transfusion.  But Rasmussen was dead wrong about the UCI limit being 0.3.  It was 0.2.

So what UCI is telling the world is "We set the threshold low enough that even riders like Rasmussen wouldn't trip over it.  Still, we noticed he almost kicked it, so we alerted him that he has to step a little higher to avoid stubbed toes and a sprained ankle."  And back in Switzerland there was probably discussion about this threshold being too high; it almost caught someone.

One way to keep the numbers of drunk drivers on the road down is to set the blood alcohol limit at say 2.0 or higher.  I can see cops pulling over drivers and saying "You know, your count was 1.8%.  Much higher and I would have to arrest you and neither of us want that.  Get back in your car, drive home, sleep well (I know you will) and try to miss that tree."

Ben