Kazakhstan's Alexandre Vinokourov, last year's number 5 finisher in the Tour de France bike race, can race this year after his team got the go ahead to compete beginning July 1.
Vinokourov's team is Astana Wurth. It was formerly Liberty Seguros-Wurth until a doping scandal convinced the Spanish subsidiary of the Liberty Mutual insurance company to abandon the team.
The team's manager, and part owner, was arrested by Spanish authorities last month as part of an investigation and raid on a doctor that allegedly used drugs to boost the performance of cyclists and other athletes.
Manolo Saiz has backed out of managing the team, but still is a part owner.
The Amaury Sports Organization (ASO), backers of the Tour de France, had asked for a ruling from the Union Cycliste International regarding the team's participation in the Tour. UCI said the ProTour team still qualified, because there was no concrete evidence that team members were involved.
According to VeloNews, the UCI said if such evidence is forthcoming, the license would be revoked.
Another team — Communidad Valenciana — that did not have ProTour standing lost its invitation to compete in the Tour after its former team manager was implicated in the probe.
Vinokourov raced for T-Mobile last year, although many of his unpredictable moves seems designed to help Vino, instead of team leader Jan Ullrich. When Liberty Seguros backed out, five Kazakh firms agreed to sponsor the team under the name Astana, the name of the nation's capital city.
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