It looks like two of the top 3 finishers in last year's Tour de France will have three weeks of vacation come July. The owners of the Tour de France announced that the Astana pro cycling team cannot compete in that race, or any other that it hosts in 2008.
That means Spain's Alberto Contador can't defend his titles in the 2007 Paris-Nice or Tour de France. No. 3 Tour de France finisher Levi Leipheimer won't be able to compete in those races either.
Banning cycling teams from important races, in spite of team management and internal doping-control overhauls, seems to be the fashion this year; the Giro d'Italia already banned Astana and Team High Road (formerly T-Mobile).
Team's damage
VeloNews reports that the Amaury Sport Organization cited “the damage caused by this team (Astana) to the Tour de France and cycling in general, as much in 2006 as 2007.”
The team lost its Liberty Seguros sponsorship after doping allegations in 2006, and Alexandre Vinokourov's alleged exploits during the 2007 Tour de France did nothing to improve its image. Two other team members also tested positive in 2007.
Those results prompted the Kazakh ownership to fire top management and bring on new faces, like director Johan Bruyneel and racers Contador and Leipheimer, all from Discovery Channel.
Reaction
VeloNews reports that Astana has instituted a rigorous anti-doping program under the new leadership. Asked to comment, Bruyneel said:
“It doesn't come as a complete surprise, but the fact that we were singled out doesn't make any sense to me.”
For instance, ASO is allowing Team High Road, the reorganized T-Mobile team, back into Paris-Nice, although there's no word yet on its participation in the Tour de France.
In addition to Contador and Leipheimer, other cyclists on the team include American Chris Horner and Germany's Andreas Kloden.
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