After Tour de France, the Astana team was thrown out of next month’s Tour of Spain too because of the cycling team’s recent doping slurs.
Organizers of the event released a statement and said
We have decided to withdraw the team’s invitation for La Vuelta because of doping cases within the team during the 2007 season.
We are convinced the team’s directors are interested in finding out who is responsible for these deplorable mistakes.
Astana fount itself embroiled in a series of doping controversy that started with its leader Alexandre Vinokourov testing positive for blood doping. Day after the incident, Andrey Kashechkin too flunked a dope test and then Matthias Kessler tested for testosterone to compound the team’s misery. Kessler and Vinokourov have already been sacked while Kashechkin’s fate hangs in balance and would depend on the outcome of a second dope test.
The team faced similar crisis last year as well. Known as Liberty Seguros then, the side skipped Tour de France after most of its riders were embroiled in the Operacion Puerto, the investigation into doping in cycling.
