MARSEILLE, France — The Tour de France can't avoid doping scandals — even when the rider isn't even in the race.

Cycling's premier event headed into the second half of the race today with another cloud over the pack following revelations that a preliminary test before the Tour detected high levels of testosterone in Germany's Patrik Sinkewitz — the disclosure coming only days after his T-Mobile teammate Linus Gerdemann led a rallying cry against doping.

Sinkewitz withdrew from the Tour on Sunday after colliding with a spectator following the second of three Alpine stages, but news Wednesday of his positive "A" sample from a pre-Tour training session has focused attention away from the race.

"For German cycling it's not so positive," said Gerdemann, who after winning Saturday's stage and taking the leader's yellow jersey for a day, railed against cheating.

"It shows that the controls are getting better and better," he said. "I always said we need more controls and more tests. I think the possibility to dope is getting smaller and smaller."

It went almost unnoticed that Cedric Vasseur became the first French rider to claim a stage this year, winning the final sprint of Wednesday's 142.6-mile trek under a searing sun. It was his first stage win since 1997.

The standings remain little changed.

Denmark's Michael Rasmussen leads by 2 minutes, 35 seconds over Alejandro Valverde in second, and 2:39 ahead of Iban Mayo with another flat stage Thursday, a medium mountain stage Friday, and a time trial Saturday.

Germany's Andreas Kloeden is a favorite for the time trial, but his countrymen will not see it.

Two German television companies — TV stations ZDF and ARD — abruptly ended their race coverage Wednesday "until further notice."